Adrift
by Beedok
Summary: Ranma is tossed into the multiverse by a bitter and petty Happosai. Meeting other Ranmas, leading differing lives, he decides to help them all improve their lives the best he can. All while hoping for a way home.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Bon Voyage**

"Oops."

Sure, Ranma didn't care that much about the old slime. Or his collection of stollen 'darlings'. Still, spilling Akane's most toxic meal yet all over the pile of them in the middle of Happosai's room hadn't been Ranma's intention. Apparently the old man had been admiring his favourites, now they were dripping with... whatever Akane was trying to feed Ranma.

"Gonna need to go on a vacation while the room gets decontaminated, eh gramps?" Ranma stated, hoping to get rid of him.

"Ranma! Stop acting like my food is toxic waste!"

"Last time I ate any I got sick. An' I've got a stomach of iron."

"I'll admit, on reflection I should have checked if the chicken had heated thoroughly in the microwave. It wasn't that big of a mistake though. This meal was much better. Just a nice stew."

"They're all ruined," Happosai bemoaned to himself. "All my favourites."

"I saw you pour in like half a bottle of soy sauce," Ranma said, ignoring the old man.

"It's stew. It needs a broth."

Suddenly Ranma felt something clamp onto his wrist. The vile old codger had managed to sneak up on him, and had stuck on some sort of over-decorated arm band.

"What the heck is this you old worm?" Ranma asked, while trying to pull the jeweled piece of metal off. "It better not be something to mess with my curse!"

"Nothing so passé as that. You've upset me too many times for such a simple punishment. This is the _Liufang Xiubiao_ : the Bracelet of Exile. I won't have to see your face again until I think you've learned your lesson," Happosai replied.

"Huh? What does this hunka metal do?" Ranma grumbled, still unable to remove the bracelet.

"I'm not completely sure, the scroll that came with it as rather damaged," the old leech admitted, "But it guarantees you'll be out of my hair as soon as I read the magic words. Abracadabra Alakazam!"

The bracelet began to radiate an odd violet colour, while the pigtailed boy stared daggers at the old man.

"Really? THAT was the magi-"

He vanished in a puff of green flame.

"Finally, I'll get a bit of peace and quiet around here. Even if it means I don't get to see that lovely redhead, there's plenty of girls to distract me around here," Happosai gloated, before having a moment of reflection on the various beauties in the neighbourhood.

A dresser to the head reminded him that Akane had been in the room the whole time. As he crawled out through one of the drawers she yanked him up to eye level by the collar.

"Where is he?"

"Somewhere far away. It's a bracelet of exile."

"WHERE!?" Akane demanded, her aura flaring up enough to actually worry Happosai.

"Ask Cologne. I've got no idea. Her people should have labelled their loot better."

Akane chucked the old grandmaster through a wall and stormed off towards the Neko Hanten. It wasn't too long of a walk, but was just far enough Akane understood why Shampoo had a bike. Of course you couldn't really stomp while biking and right now Akane wanted to stomp.

All but knocking the door at the entrance off its hinges Akane marched up to the counter. Mousse looked nervous.

"Mousse-kun, Where is Cologne?" she asked, angry but attempting to be civil.

"Uh, she's in the back."

Mousse scrambled into the kitchen and soon emerged with Cologne. The old woman pogoed over to Akane.

"What brings you in today? Not here to let Shampoo have son-in-law I'm guessing?"

"Of course not. I have questions about an artifact. The Bracelet of Exile."

Cologne looked stunned for a moment. "So Happi did take it... We have to get it back. That is one of the most powerful artifacts the Joketsuzoku ever acquired. Where is it?"

"Wherever it sent Ranma," Akane replied. "I don't care how far away that might be. I'll cross an ocean if needed."

"He used it... the old fool," Cologne mumbled to herself. "I'm sorry child, but Ranma is not anywhere you can reach."

"He... he isn't dead is he?"

"No. The bracelet sends whoever wears it to... well, the modern term would be parallel universes. The victim is only returned to her or his home realm when whoever spoke the magic words truly forgives them... or dies."

As the words sunk in Akane felt her heart break. Happosai was not the forgiving type. For a brief moment the idea of letting Shampoo try to kill him floated in her head, but she both knew that would fail and didn't like the idea of murder.

 _Author's notes: You may ask yourself, what is this? And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?_

 _The latter is easier to answer. You clicked the link. But good on you with the Talking Heads reference._

 _As for the former: this is my way to crank out my ten thousand AU ideas without writing that many fics. Okay, so maybe ten thousand is a slight exaggeration... but I still have too many ideas. If any prove popular enough they might get full fics. Some ideas are a bit less solid that others... but might end up flowing better than expected._

 _As always I claim no ownership over Ranma 1/2 or its characters.  
_


	2. Chapter 1: The Girl

**Chapter 1: The Girl**

Ranma's head was aching as he regained consciousness. Staring up at the grey sky he realised it was raining. Also he was lying in a puddle. That probably explained why he hurt more than he expected too. His girl form seemed to be just a touch more fragile than his male form.

He was a bit surprised when suddenly he saw himself wander into his field of view and bend down in obvious concern. He wasn't sure if this other him being male despite the rain increased the shock or not. The gakuran was an interesting look though.

"You okay?" the other him asked.

"I might be seein' things right now, so... I'll say maybe?"

"Where did you come from? There was this flash of green, and when I turned around you were lying there on the ground."

The currently female Ranma lifted his arm to show off the bracelet. "Happosai stuck this on me. Then there was a flash of green, a lot of pain, and next thing I knew I was waking up here."

The currently male Ranma shivered at Happosai's name, but then helped the other Ranma up. The shorter Ranma studied his surroundings, and realised it was one of Nerima's parks he knew fairly well.

"So... you recognise me. And you were lying in a puddle. In the rain," this other Ranma was saying. "So, that begs the question: how are you still female?"

The redhead's mind broke for an instant.

"P-pardon?" he managed to stammer.

"Did you cure your Nannichuan curse? Or is it, like, waterproof soap? Or...?"

"Wait... Y-you're a girl?" Ranma asked, confused and shocked.

"Y-you aren't?" his doppelganger replied with equal shock.

The two stared at the other in shock for several seconds. Studying how the other carried themself. Looking for signs despite their respective current forms. The currently smaller Ranma realised the other did seem to have a slightly more compact stance. Like she wasn't used to taking up so much space.

"I'll guess your name isn't Ranko then?" Ranko asked.

"No... It's Ranma."

"Pfft... Really? Wow! I've used that as a fake name more than a few times, since mine doesn't work well for a boy. Always thought I was just being lazy. I suppose the lack of creativity on names must be genetic or somethin' if the old man actually called you that..." she said with a giggle that did not quite fit her form. "Well... let's get back to the dojo. I'm guessing you'd like a warm bath as much as I do."

Ranma nodded, and followed his look alike. This was freaky. Ranma remembered Kasumi explaining the idea of parallel universes last week when Ranma had been confused about a tv show she was watching. It might have been something like that. With all the other wackiness that happened in his life getting sent to another universe seemed perfectly plausible.

"You're handlin' this well," Ranma mentioned casually.

"I don't know what else I can do. I'll keep an eye out to see if you turn evil... but I was thinking this might be like that parallel universe thing Kasumi explained to me the other day. Especially since you're not doing anything foolish like the mirror clones did."

Ranma noticed that Ranko seemed to grow a bit withdrawn at the memory of the mirror clones. He didn't really know why... sure, it was embarrassing, but not that big a deal.

They finally reached the Tendo home and Ranko let them both in. As they kicked off their shoes the girl-turned-boy shouted out a greeting. Ranma heard Kasumi answer a moment later, and then the eldest Tendo daughter appeared.

When she saw the two of them she had worry flash on her face. "W-what happened? Ranko, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied. Her tone was calm and assuring. "Just made a friend. Kasumi, meet Ranma. Ranma... meet Kasumi?"

"Well, I've met _a_ Kasumi before," Ranma said. The redhead did however give a slight bow (he'd always respected Kasumi). "It is a pleasure to meet you too though."

Kasumi returned the bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Where did you come from, if you don't mind my asking?"

Ranma repeated the explanation he'd given earlier. He didn't exactly understand any more than before, so it was a pretty basic explanation. He also also told her that he was indeed a boy with a nyannichuan curse.

"Oh my... that's quite the story. I suppose you would like a bath then?"

"I, well, I suppose?" Ranma replied. "Er, what about Ranko? It feels rude to leave a girl needin' to warm herself up. She should really go before I do."

"I... uh... well, I guess we can both go? It's not... well it's not like either of us has anything the other hasn't seen," Ranko offered.

Ranma froze. It was true. He always told himself that when he ended up in the girl's side of a change room or public bath. And honestly he could usually handle the issue fine when it happened due to outside circumstances. Deliberately though? That was frightening.

"Hey, don't worry," Ranko assured him, "I've ended up having to use the guy's changeroom more than once... so I can handle this." (If Ranma had been better at reading people's emotions he'd have noticed Ranko was clearly trying to reassure herself too.)

Ranma nodded awkwardly and headed towards the furo as he remembered the location. Luckily Ranko went the same direction, so it seemed the layout of the house was roughly the same. They reached the changing area and began to undress. Ranma had done this with his female mirror clone before, but... well that clone had been in female form. Ranko in male form... well, she was towering over him... it was a little unnerving on top of weird.

"Wait," Ranma said as he noticed something odd about Ranko. "Since you're a girl... why ain't ya wearin' a bra?"

Ranko blushed furiously. "W-well... it's been raining all day today. Being in guy mode the whole time kind of stretches the band out."

"Oh," was all Ranma said in reply. He really didn't know enough about bras to say anything more.

The two went about washing up in awkward silence. Neither really wanted to look at their strange parallel in the wrong body. Eventually Ranma finished washing and slid to soak in the warm tub. Turning back to himself he suddenly felt much more comfortable about the situation. After a minute or so of relaxing he realised that Ranko was just sort of sitting there on her stool.

"You okay?" Ranma asked.

"I... yeah. Just... I'll wait for you to head out."

"Um, okay," Ranma replied as he stood up and reached for a towel. Looking over at his doppelganger he swore he saw a hint of fear. "You suggested this?"

"Y-yeah. I thought it might help. Hoped I was over it..." Ranko half whispered.

"Over what?"

"I... the mirror clone. He... he was quite forward."

Ranma paused and remembered how the incident had gone for himself. How the female clone had been obsessive to a point exceeding even Kodachi. She (it?) had maintained a certain girlish playfulness and coyness though. Looking at Ranko though Ranma realised things must have gone differently. He also thought back to how much Ranko's male form (essentially his birth form) towered over his cursed form (and Ranko's birth form). And memories of how Kuno had acted while an amnesiac flitted into his head. He shivered at the implication.

"I beat the snot out of him in the end, but... it was tougher than was comfortable," she continued after a moment. She wrapped her arms around her legs and her eyes grew a bit distant. Despite her form, her body language left no doubt of her femininity. "I know you aren't him. My gut doesn't seem ready to accept it though. It'll be better when we're dressed."

Ranma nodded an acceptance and went out to the laundry room. A few moments later he was dressed and decided to go wait for Ranko in the hallway outside the family room and watch the rain. He wasn't sure what to make of all this and wondered how long he would be here. Would the magic Happosai had used last hours? Days? Months? The last option made him shiver a bit. That long separated from Akane...

"Oh, Ranko. What are you doing, just sitting here?" Akane's voice asked.

Ranma slipped from where he was seated. Of course there would be an Akane here... just not his Akane. Lying on his back he found himself staring up at her, unsure what to say.

"Everything alright there Ranko?" Akane asked.

"Err, I'm not Ranko."

"Pardon?"

Ranma righted himself and stood up. "The name's Ranma... Sorry 'bout the confusion."

"Okay Ranko... what are you up to now? Is this one of auntie Nodoka's schemes?" Akane asked, concern obvious on her face.

"I... pardon?"

Ranma's ability to question further was interrupted by Ranko's arrival around the corner. The small red haired girl was now clad in a silk Chinese outfit like Ranma's. Akane's eyes flipped back and forth between the two wildly.

"I see you've met Ranma," the cute redhead stated with a playful smile. "He's quite handsome, ain't he?"

"Wait, what's going on?" Akane asked.

Once more Ranma ran through a quick explanation. He figured two or three more times and he'd have it down perfectly. The three were seated now as Ranma finished the brief story.

"So... you're actually a boy," Akane mumbled to herself. Ranma noticed a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Hey, that reminds me. Ranko, why are ya stayin' with the Tendos anyway?"

The small girl's face turned the colour of her hair in an instant. She quickly blurted: "Ngjmnt."

"What?" Ranma asked.

"She an I... well, we're sort of... with her curse uncle Genma thought... and daddy apparently agreed..." Akane stammered.

Ranma sat there confused. Something was piecing it together in the back of his mind, but he knew that idea was crazy.

"It's a little crazy really," Ranko explained, still blushing furiously. "But yeah... the old man talked things over with the Jusenkyo guide. He was curious just how _thorough_ the curse was. When he heard that apparently those with the curse _could_ father kids... he decided it was time to book it back to Japan and, er, fulfill an old promise."

"Ohhhhhhh... And since Akane 'hates boys'," Ranma said.

The dark haired girl blushed again. "Nabiki was actually after her when she first showed up. Then Ranko managed to spill some tea on herself... I was pushed forward in an instant."

"Not that Nabiki doesn't like to get a good look in the bath," Ranko replied, crossing her arms grumpily.

"In the bath?" Ranma asked. "Y-you bathe with her?"

"I _am_ a girl ya know!" Ranko shouted back angrily. "I bathe with other girls plenty a times."

"S-sorry. Just, since we were in together... I wasn' sure how things worked. And you're engaged ta your Akane so..."

Ranko grew quiet. Akane moved to explain in her stead.

"To be perfectly honest the way daddy and her parents treat her is confused at the best of times."

Ranko suddenly sprang to her feet. "Hey, Ranma, let's spar! Just a friendly match of course."

"I... I'm not really a fan of fighting girls," Ranma muttered awkwardly.

"Well ain't that sexist," Ranko replied. However her voice had dropped significantly by the end of the sentence thanks to her stepping out into the rain. "There, better?"

Ranma found himself staring at the ground, too embarrassed to retain eye contact. "Well... at least we'd know whoever wins is all from skill..."

He quietly followed the now Akane and the now taller and manlier looking Ranko to the dojo. It wasn't like he didn't know the way of course, it just seemed polite as he was technically the guest.

Arriving he and Ranko gave each other quick bows and slid into fighting stances. Both tried to guess the other's preferences as they sized their foe's posture up. Yet both had to admit their forms were loose enough to be hard to read. After a bit of circling Ranko grew annoyed that Ranma was refusing to initiate and slid in with a series of kicks. Ranma was able to block easily enough (but could tell the kicks were more probing moves than a serious assault). He closed the distance and moved in with a flurry of punches meant to test Ranko. She proved just as effective at blocking.

The cocky smile she began to wear as she went for a leg sweep annoyed Ranma for a moment. Then he realised it was the same smile he always wore. Finally getting to see just how annoying that was for an opponent made Ranma smile himself as he swung a roundhouse at his foe.

The fight quickly sped up as both Saotomes decided to push the other harder and harder. Akane found herself struggling to keep straight who was who. Only Ranko's clear preference for kicks allowed her to keep track (well that and Ranko's clothes being a bit tighter as they were tailored to fit her female form less awkwardly than Ranma's would, but at the cost of not fitting her male form quite as well).

Then the leaping began, and suddenly the generously sized dojo seemed barely able to contain the fighters. Both were bouncing off support pillars and apparently defying gravity. The two fighters seemed evenly matched to Akane's eye. She did find it interesting to watch how Ranma clearly had most of the same teachings as Ranko, but his male style lead to a greater focus on fists. He seemed looser over all as far as Akane could see. Ranko's moves bore a similar hallmark to Akane's own: they were crisp, perhaps overly so in Akane's case, due to hours of practicing katas each day. Ranma's brought in a bit more of the wildness Akane had seen in self taught grapplers. She could only guess that he did more sparring than katas.

After what felt like a small eternity the two black haired Saotome teens came to a halt. Both were panting and sweating heavily. They also had matching stupidly large grins for two people who'd just been trying to beat the pulp out the other.

"You should kick more," Ranko said between breaths. "We've got long legs in guy from. Use that."

"I kick plenty," Ranma protested. "Ya need to loosen up more though. Could totally read your moves."

"The old man says the same thing," Ranko grumbled. "If he'd sparred with me more growin' up..."

As the two stood up beside the other something else different struck Akane.

"Ranko... you're taller than him."

Both pigtailed teens froze at that. In an instant they'd turned to face the other, checking who's eye level was higher. Ranma grew flustered as he realised that Ranko's male form was indeed a little taller. Not much... a little over two centimetres perhaps. Yet, with them being otherwise identical it suddenly stuck out.

"Why?" was all Ranma said.

"Maybe because she spends more time as a girl? So she doesn't need as much food, and then gets to grow more?" Akane offered.

"That's not fair," Ranma grumbled.

Further moping was interrupted by Kasumi arriving at the dojo door. "Dinner will be ready soon. Oh, and all of the parents are home again."

The last bit felt almost like a warning to Ranma, and he wasn't sure why.

"Oh, thanks," Ranko replied.

Kasumi then gave the near identical pair an quick once over. "Don't tell me you two need another bath."

"Nah," Ranko replied. "Just a toweling and a change of shirts should do us."

It only took a few minutes for Ranma and Ranko to freshen up enough that Akane deemed them presentable. The fact that the change of shirt was stored in a chest of drawers Ranma had not seen before in Akane's room raised an eyebrow.

"So, Ranko, why is your stuff in Akane's room?" Ranma asked as he fiddled with the shirt. It just didn't fit right.

"We share the room," Ranko replied while walking down the stairs.

"I only saw one bed..." Ranma said.

"W-we're both girls!" the still physically male Ranko blushed. "So it's fine."

"Mhm, I'd never let her sleep in my bed in boy form though," Akane added. She paused just long enough to see Ranma and Ranko both give confused yet embarrassed looks before sticking her tongue out. "The bed is much too small to share with someone that tall!"

Ranko and Ranma shot her icy glares, but she couldn't help laughing. Ranma felt himself wondering at how Ranko and this Akane might have a different rapport than he had with the Akane he knew. Entering into the dining area he was about to get another shock.

"Oh, don't you two look handsome," Nodoka said as Ranma and Ranko walked in. "Kasumi was telling us about how you're here Ranma. I must say, it will be nice to have you to be a role model for dear Ranko."

"Pardon?" Ranma asked. He was deeply confused (though not too confused to find himself an empty spot at the table to eat).

"While Ranko might look the part and has picked up a fair bit from Genma... my child still has quite a bit to learn on the ways of manhood. If that child is going to be a good husband for dear Akane-chan..."

Genma cleared his throat a bit nervously. "Though if Ranma is going to be staying, perhaps he would make a better husband?"

Ranma's eyes had been flying in confusion between this Nodoka, Akane, and Ranko. Nodoka seemed to be acting as if what she was saying was perfectly normal. Akane looked nervously at Ranma with emotions surprisingly similar to the Akane he knew back home, mixing embarrassment with other things he could never quite identify. Ranko, for her part, was clearly deeply uncomfortable. Her eyes pleading that Ranma help somehow.

"I... I don't know how long I'll be here," Ranma replied. He saw Ranko deflate slightly, but didn't know what else to say beyond the truth. He pulled his sleeve back."This bracelet might only work for a few hours. Maybe a couple days. Maybe I'm here for good. I just don't know."

The rest of the meal and evening saw him bombarded with questions. He was surprised how often Ranko had apparently handled things similarly. And confused by the sour looks whenever he mentioned Ryoga. What had P-chan done with himself in this universe?

* * *

Ranma found himself in girl form with a futon set up on Akane's floor. Ranko and Akane were sharing the bed. Nodoka had decided that was the best sleeping arrangement and Soun's own worries had been ignored.

"So, can I just ask: what's with your mom Ranko?"

The other red head let out a tired sigh. "She's taken the old man's nonsense to the next step. Since I've kinda failed as a girl, she sees the curse as a way for me to be her son instead."

"But you're still allowed to share a bed with Akane and everything?"

"Mom says that because we're engaged it's fine," Ranko replied.

"And what do you think about it?" Ranma asked.

"It's my duty as her child."

"Can you two chat later?" Akane said, sitting up to glare at Ranma a moment. "It'll already take me awhile to get to sleep with a boy in my room. And there's school tomorrow."

"Sorry," both redheads replied in unison.

* * *

Ranko and Akane had left for school. Nodoka had wanted to grill Ranma on his entire personality, wanting to see what she could do to make Ranko more manly. He ended up panicking and saying he needed to talk to Cologne. He was sure she'd know something about the bracelet.

Luckily the Neko Hanten was located in the same place in this universe so it didn't take long to find. Being early in the morning it was also quite quiet.

" _Airen_!" Shampoo shouted as she bounded over to wrap her beloved in a bear hug.

"Is Cologne around?" Ranma gasped with what little air he could manage under Shampoo's vice grip.

His question was answered as the ancient half mummified woman emerged from the kitchen.

"Ah, daughter-in-law. Should you not be in school?"

The few customers were used to Saotome gender bending and didn't blink at the boy being called 'daughter-in-law'.

"About that," Ranma replied as he pulled the arm with the bracelet of exile on it up out of Shampoo's grip. "I ain't Ranko. The name's Ranma."

"The _Liufang Xiubiao_. How did you get that on your wrist?" Cologne asked as she moved in for a closer look.

"Happosai."

"Happi is still in Japan where you came from? But why-ah, the name. You're a male aren't you?" The way she said the last sentence sounded like an accusation.

"Yes," Ranma replied.

Shampoo let go in an instant and glared at him. "Boy? You is boy?"

" _Yes_ ," Ranma told her sharply. "Is that a problem?"

"Very much. Wife who can provide children much better than some stinky boy," Shampoo replied sharply.

"Huh... the Shampoo back where I'm from seems ta think rather differently," Ranma replied smugly. "She's crazy about me."

Both teens glared at one another before Cologne cleared her voice. "I can only assume you came here for information on the bracelet?"

Ranma nodded.

"Firstly, there is no easy way of removing it unless whoever exiled you no longer bares ill will towards you. Which either means forgiveness or their death. I suppose a coma might work too... but that has not been tested to my knowledge."

"So I'm stuck here until the old creep forgives me? Or kicks the bucket?" Ranma asked.

"No. You're exiled until then, but as added cruelty you will not be given a permanent home. You will likely spend between a week and a month in each realm... the records from past victims of the bracelet are vague at best. We do know that the magic draws you to the version of yourself in each realm. That is part of how it transports you."

"And there's nothin' you can do?"

"If I had access to the full library of my people perhaps I could manage something, but here in Tokyo? No. Nothing can be done my child. I am sorry," the tiny old woman said with genuine sympathy. "All you have is hope those who care for you somehow sway that... vile man. That or kill him. I suspect the latter is more likely."

* * *

Ranma sat on a park bench staring at the gravel. He couldn't stand this feeling of utter helplessness. He was Saotome Ranma! He didn't lose, and he certainly never gave up.

Except there wasn't anyone around he could fight. He could try breaking the bracelet, but that might just strand him for good. He had to do something, but what?

"Ranko! What are you doing in Kyoto?" Ryoga asked, looking genuinely happy to see him (or more technically to see someone he thought was Ranko).

Ranma looked up to see Ryoga coming his way. Maybe he could release some stress with a nice sparring match. He stood up and started walking towards Ryoga.

"There's two things wrong with what you just said. One, this ain't Kyoto," Ranma replied. "And two-"

Ranma's explanation was silenced by Ryoga grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him into a passionate kiss. The tender loving nature of the kiss left Ranma stunned. He wasn't sure he'd ever received such a genuine display romantic love.

"I've missed you, Ranko," Ryoga whispered softly into Ranma's ear.

The improper name jarred Ranma from his momentary state of confused bliss. A sudden jarring that let him process _who_ it was that kissed him. As well as why.

"Byah! Ryoga! I ain't Ranko!" Ranma half shouted.

"What do you mean? Ranko, what's wrong with you?" the fanged boy asked. His eyes filled with fear as he took Ranma's head into his hands and tried to look for any bumps or scars. "Did you hit your head again?"

"What? No! No," Ranma replied, pushing out of Ryoga's grip. "I... I ain't from around here. The old pervert stuck this thing on me and I fell into your world."

Ranma lifted his sleeve to reveal the bracelet attached to his arm.

"You... _fell_ into our world?" Ryoga asked, confused and yet _strangely_ understanding. He was probably half surprised something similar had never happened to him.

"Yeah. Also, it seems kinda important to mention that, unlike Ranko, I'm a guy," Ranma added.

"I... ohhh. Well, _that's_ awkward," Ryoga muttered.

The pair stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Ryoga quietly kicking himself for mistaking someone else for Ranko (even if they did look identical). Ranma meanwhile was trying to ignore how an actual loving kiss was making him feel.

"So... uh, what should we do now?" Ryoga asked.

"Well, I guess Ucchan's wouldn't be open right now. I guess we could go back to the dojo?" Ranma offered.

"The dojo? As in the Tendo Dojo? I'm not exactly welcome there," Ryoga said.

"Huh? Why not? Ain't ya a good sparrin' partner, and so someone they'd want around?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga stared at him, utterly unimpressed. "They want Ranko to marry Akane. Everyone sees me as a distraction from that... and _man_ is it weird to explain that to you."

The pair began walking, with no destination in mind. It was just that standing still felt wrong. As they walked, mostly in silence, but with the occasional snippets of small talk (they agreed that the weather was nice), the pair ended up drifting towards Furinkan High School. The noises from the yard caused them both to realise the school was on lunch.

"Come on. Let's go find Ranko. I... I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," Ranma said, grabbing Ryoga by the wrist (because his usual grabbing Ryoga by the hand felt like it would send mixed signals) and leading him towards Ranma's favourite location to eat lunch (on the assumption it was a good spot as any to start).

The sight that greeted them surprised Ranma, to say the least. Ranko was sitting there in her gakuran and in her male cursed form, surrounded by girls who all seemed to be offering her food. In return Ranko was... _flirting_?

"A beautiful princess like you deserves to be treated as such," Ranko said to one girl, a hand cupped on the girl's cheek. As the girl turned red she dropped some chocolates in Ranko's hand, while the curse girl then turned to another. "And you, delicate flower, have the boys still not recognised your radiant beauty? Certainly their loss, missing not only you loved company, but also your delicious cooking."

Squeals of joy emitted from various girls as Ranko flirted away with a few more, acquiring food from at least a third. While turning to talk to another she finally noticed Ryoga and a very confused Ranma standing nearby.

"Ryo-chan!" Ranko shouted with joy, as she sprung to her feet, and began to rush over.

"Hey there Ranko," Ryoga replied as he ran forward to the masculine looking Ranko.

Ranko leapt up and wrapped her legs around Ryoga while the pair shared a kiss. The reactions from the audience were mixed. Ranma was hit with a wave of confusion, seeing his doppelganger happily jump onto Ryoga and start kissing him, memories of his own kiss recent (especially when he had memories of actions dangerously similar with his own Ryoga while in cursed form). The girls who had been swarming about Ranko however let out a burst of excited noises.

As the two broke their kiss apart the currently male Ranko turned to the crowd. "A bunch of rotten girls you lot. And don't forget I'm a girl."

"Gender doesn't matter when you're just appreciating," a brunette with twintails replied.

Then the crowd noticed Ranma.

"Who's that?"

"Do you have a brother, Ranko?"

"Or a sister?"

The cursed girl hopped down from Ryoga, and turned to face the crowd. "Girls, meet Ranma. He's from a parallel universe typa deal. And yeah, _he_ is a guy."

Ranma was surrounded by girls before he knew what had happened. The bombardment of questions made it obvious that all thought he had to be excellent boyfriend material. The dislocated boy was completely overwhelmed.

"I, uh... er," Ranma stammered. 2 girls was enough to overwhelm him. This was just ridiculous.

The girls around him began to look disappointed, which just caused Ranma to panic more.

"Girls, girls," Ranko said calmly as she waded into the crowd and up to her look alike. "You have to remember: he's a boy. Flirting with a girl is serious for him."

"Ooohhh, right. It's like how you were with Hibiki last year!" a girl announced. (Wasn't that one of Akane's friends?)

"Heh... yeah. Sorry girls, but I'm going to need some private conversation time with my boyfriend. As well as my alternate dimension brother."

Disappointed noises emitted from the girls, but the crowd headed off in an orderly manner.

"So, I have a lot of questions," Ranma said. "Firstly though, what was that?"

Ranko shrugged. "The girls like compliments. Having those compliments come from someone who looks like a cute boy makes them even happier. At some point a girl gave me food when I complimented how cute her bento was, and that was all the incentive I needed."

"Huh..." was the extent of Ranma's verbal reply. Internally, however, he began to wonder if flirting with the guys in his class could net him just as much food. Maybe more... might give them _ideas_ though.

"They took the idea of a parallel universe really well," he added after a moment.

Ranko shrugged. "If I remember correctly that was high of the list of things Nabiki said people were betting would happen next. Up there with aliens showing up or having to fight a proper demon."

Ranma nodded. Honestly, aliens wouldn't surprise him at this point.

Another question struck him however. "Wait, how did you two meet? Like, I met my Ryoga in middle school, but that was an all guys school, so ya couldn't a gone."

"Ah, awkward story, but we met in middle school too," Ranko replied. When she noticed the confused look on Ranma's face she waved his question down. "Yeah, yeah. It was before the curse. Just, the old man had a gig lined up that meant we'd be in one place a while. I'm guessin' something similar happened with you? Well, he went and saw that the toughest, and _cheapest_ , school in town was an all boys school. So told me that it would be good for training. I kind of wanted to prove to myself I could beat the guys up, so agreed."

"She was fast. Pretty well no one could land a hit on her," Ryoga added, smiling proudly.

"You especially, Oinkers," Ranko laughed. "Anyway, eventually focused on this big doofus as my main sparring partner. Toughest guy there, and he was cute. Getting to walk him home every day, with an excuse for holding his hand, was nice."

"I thought she was a guy though. So I got really confused about my feelings, and kind of turned it into anger," Ryoga replied.

Ranma was left nodding apprehensively the whole time. Why did this have to match so closely with his own history?

"Man was it awkward when I found out she was a girl," Ryoga mumbled, blushing furiously. Ranko quickly joined him.

"H-how did it happen?" Ranma asked.

"Well, he went and attacked on a rainy night. We both ended up split up and soaked. Akane found little Oinkers in her room, and since I was planning to get a bath cause I was cold 'n wet I took him in with me. Expecting to soak beside a cute piglet instead I ended up naked in the tub with a guy... honestly something that happens much more often than I would like," Ranko grumbled.

"Yeah... I guess that's even worse for you," Ranma replied, trying desperately to ignore how similar the interactions of these two were to himself and his own Ryoga. But for the one 'minor' difference of gender. "Still, Ryoga, you're comfortable with her curse?"

Ryoga shrugged. "I dunno, like, I suppose..."

"Oh please," Ranko replied, rolling her eyes. "The curse is the only thing that lets him be functional around me. Have you ever seen you Ryoga around a girl he likes, Ranma? He's a disaster. He's so panicked around me that if I so much as change my hairstyle he doesn't recognise me. At least it lets me know he'd never cheat on me, won't even give me the time of day if he doesn't realise it's me."

Ryoga blushed while Ranma nodded in agreement. Though that left Ranma wondering about his own Ryoga's dedication to Akane when he was so easy to charm.

"So yeah, I have to stay in boy mode if I want a proper date. Sure, we get some funny looks, but I'd rather that than him trying to eat his plate, which gets funny looks of a different kind. Plus I tend to get even more snacks off the girls after they see us together."

Ranko looked ready to explain more, but the ringing of the school bell interrupted the currently black haired teen.

"Oh yay. I think I've got a test today... Anyway, Ranma, take Oinkers back to the dojo. And Ryoga, see you later lover," Ranko said quickly, giving Ryoga a brief kiss on the cheek before running off.

As they watched her run off Ranma paid some vague attention to the rest of the sea of students filing into Furinkan. They were almost all familiar faces, but one was especially important to Ranma. Even though she wasn't his Akane... he still wanted to see her. When she turned his way though, Ranma was shocked to see a nasty scowl on her face. He wondered what he'd done in such little time to upset her, until he saw her mouth 'Hibiki' before turning around and storming off.

That honestly confused Ranma more than it being him who'd upset her. His Akane always seemed fond of his Ryoga. What was different in this world? And... did he really want to be using the term 'his Ryoga' so much?

Ranma began leading Ryoga off towards the canal, having pieced together what the nickname Oinkers meant fairly easily. What made Akane mad was escaping him even more than usual however, and he had to ask.

"What's wrong between you and Akane?"

"What's wrong be-What _isn't_ wrong? Akane is supposed to marry Ranko, and on some level she actually wants that. But she can't admit she has a crush on another girl, even if that girl is sort of a boy sometimes. So she's angry. But she also considers Ranko her best friend too, so can't be angry at _her_. And I'm Ranko's boyfriend, which means I'm both a 'stealing' her crush _and_ reminding her that her crush is really a girl," Ryoga sighed. He then noted the impressed look on Ranma's face. "I didn't figure it out. I just got tired of having her yell at me for trying to be nice, and asked Nabiki what was going on. Cost me 10,000 yen..."

Ranma smiled. Some things didn't change.

Still, this Akane being partially in love with Ranko confused him a bit. Did Akane like girls too then? Or was the curse enough to make Ranko count as a boy to her when in that form? And if it was the latter... did that mean Ranma's own curse meant his Akane could only see him as a friend some of the time?

It was too much to think about. Shoving Ryoga into the canl thankfully gave him some solace.

* * *

Ranma had settled in at the Tendos', watching a bit of TV while P-ch-er, Oinkers sat beside him. The similarity of it all was really what made him feel uncomfortable. Even the shows and channels were the same.

Laying back and watching day dramas Ranma felt a bit of guilt. Back home he was Akane's fiancé, and so wasn't really expected to do any housework (even if he did help Kasumi clean from time to time when it was just the two of them), but here... he was just a freeloader. Feeling determined to pull his weight, Ranma hopped to his feet and marched over to the kitchen.

He found Kasumi and Nodoka discussing recipes for the week.

"I, uh... I was thinkin', while I'm here, maybe I can help out in the kitchen a bit? Especially since I'm gonna be eatin' your food and all..." Ranma muttered, feeling a bit nervous.

"Well, Akane usually helps with washing up," Nodoka replied. "Maybe you could try that as well?"

"I'd kinda like ta help cook," Ranma replied. "Dishes are never fun with the curse. One misplaced spoon when I'm rinsin'... wait, why are ya starin' like that?"

"C-cook? I... no, no. We've definitely got that under control, don't we Kasumi?"

"Oh my, yes. Not that we don't appreciate the offer, but, well..."

"Okay, why are you two actin' like I'm as bad a cook as Akane or somethin'?"

* * *

Akane and a male Ranko returned from school to the smell of something wonderful in the kitchen. Following their noses they found a few small bowls of _oyakodon_ sitting on the kitchen table, Kasumi and Nodoka each eating one of their own. Akane noticed the look of surprised confusion on both their faces as they studied the food before them, but Ranko had other priorities.

Seeing as how she was a bit hungry (having not had a chance to change back from male all afternoon left her extra peckish), Ranko walked over and grabbed a bowl. After a few bites she couldn't help smiling.

"Mmm, this is perfect Kasumi," Ranko said after swallowing a bit.

"Oh, it wasn't me who made them," Kasumi replied softly.

"Aah! Sorry mom, just used to Kasumi doing the cookin' around here," Ranko said, bowing nervously to her mother.

"It wasn't me either, dear."

Ranko was starting to grow confused when a very familiar voice spoke out from the hallway.

"Ranko, good ta see ya home. So, you agree my cookin's fine, right? Your ma and Kasumi were so scared ta try it," a currently redheaded Ranma said, smiling away.

Ranko turned pale, looking down at this male version of herself who, in an apron and female form, looked far more the part of girl than she felt she ever did. Especially with _her_ being in male form. Struggling to hold back tears (after all, this was just hammering home that being a guy was the only remaining option) Ranko gave a broken smile. "Y-yeah, it's... it's great Ranma. You're a good cook."

The change in Ranko's mood caused Ranma to suddenly feel guilty. The short boy had been so focused on proving his own skill that he'd not stopped to think about _why_ they expected him to be a poor cook.

"I... I have homework to do," Ranko announced, before turning and marching off.

After a moment of silence as they heard Ranko's footfalls head upstairs, Nodoka cleared her throat.

"Akane, you should really help your fiancé with homework," Nodoka said.

"Of course, auntie," Akane replied softly before hurrying off.

"Ya know, since I might be missin' school for awhile I should prob'ly take a peek myself," Ranma added, hurrying upstairs as well.

Reaching Akane's room quickly, Ranma found it strange to see his male form on the bed, arms wrapped around knees and trying to cry quietly while being comforted by Akane. Ranma almost didn't want to intrude, but curiosity won out, and the redhead slipped into the room.

"I didn't think it'd bother ya that much... but I'm sorry for pickin' at something you're clearly self conscious about," Ranma said softly.

Ranko looked up at him sadly, eyes puffy and red. "This is just a reminder of why mom made the decision she made. I'm a total failure as a girl... knowing a boy version of me can be a girl better than me is just the final straw, I guess?"

Ranma had no idea what to say. Giving Ranko a pathetic look the redhead then leaned back and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "I've got no clue what ta do, but... there's gotta be some way I can help."

"My femininity is a lost cause, Ranma. Heck, I was so bad at cooking as a kid that the old man took over. The same with the sewing. And I've never quite managed ta be as polite and proper as a girl should be," Ranko sighed. "It's no wonder ma was disappointed. She's the perfect wife and woman, everything I wanted to be. To have her only daughter basically end up a boy... the curse honestly saved me. It at least lets me take a shot at bein' a decent son instead."

"I still don't think she coulda expected much with pops teachin' ya cookin' and stuff," Ranma muttered.

"Teaching?" Ranko asked, looking at Ranma as if he'd grown horns. "I'm a girl. This stuff is just supposed to come naturally."

Ranma and Akane were both glad they'd been sitting already when they heard that particular statement (although Akane did nearly slip from the bed as she spun with surprise).

"Ranko... did uncle Genma never actually _teach_ you anything about cooking?" the Tendo girl asked.

"No? I mean, he's a guy, so if I were any good as a girl my natural instincts would be better than what he could teach," the cursed girl replied.

"Was that his idea on how it worked, or yours?" Akane asked.

"The old man's, of course. I was just a kid, he knew how the world worked better than me," Ranko replied, fussing absently with her black ponytail.

"I'm gonna kill him," Ranma fumed.

"Not if I get to him first," Akane grumbled.

Ranko looked back and forth between her best friend and doppelganger, confused as to what exactly was happening. Had her father gone and ruined her life in another way?

"Ranko, even Kasumi had lessons when she was little," Akane explained. "And I get upset because I haven't learned _with_ Kasumi giving me lessons. If I were trying on my own I wouldn't be as self conscious."

"You mean... if I'd stayed at home with mom I might've ended up proper and feminine with ma's teachings, rather than filling the old man's promise that I'd be 'tough as a guy'?" Ranko asked.

Ranma nodded. "Probably. 'Course, I find it odd ma didn't try ta teach ya when ya met up again."

"That I can explain," Ranko said. "She was really disappointed when I showed up a total tomboy... since I grew up idolisin' everything the old man told me about how she's the perfect woman my heart kinda broke. So I rushed to show her the curse and pointed out that I had plenty of skills a guy needed. Soon enough she was excited about the idea of having the son she'd always wanted."

Ranma nodded. "I guess that makes sense. When she was tryin' ta teach me I was pretendin' ta be a girl without a curse, 'cause of the dumb seppuku pledge pops made... D'ya think she'd be open ta teachin' ya if ya asked?"

Akane and Ranko exchanged a nervous glance.

"No," Ranko replied. "She got kinda upset with me the last time she caught me wearin' a dress. Said that I need to set my heart on masculinity if I'm going to be a husband. That ya can't do both."

There was a pause as Ranma thought it over. He could try teaching her a bit, but he'd only be here a couple of weeks if Cologne had told the truth. But he knew how stubborn his mother (and therefore Ranko's mother in all likelihood) could be. His own surprising love of cooking had left him trying to get more lessons from her to no avail. Kasumi probably wouldn't want to disobey Ranko's mother, so she was out.

"What about Ukyo?" Akane asked, having apparently been down the same train of thought.

A sudden realisation dawned on Ranko's face. "Y'know, the way her dad was giving her lessons on how to cook was probably part of the reason I thought she was a boy when we were little... yeah, let's go visit Ucchan's after dinner."

The current predicament covered, Ranma hurried off to return to his birth form (having only gotten away with changing as Nodoka accepted his view that cooking was easier in girl mode). The three then set to work on homework. Ranma took some comfort in Ranko's not being much better than him at school. Part way through Oinkers strolled in (rather it was by accident or not, Ranma couldn't hope to determine) and was quickly pampered by both Akane and Ranko. Both discussed the homework with the piglet, Akane because thinking aloud helped her with math and Ranko because her boyfriend was better than her in several subjects, even though he did his learning independently from textbooks in his backpack.

* * *

Ukyo let out a sigh as the dinner rush wrapped up. There were a couple of older regulars chatting in a side booth, but those old ladies rarely talked to her, disliking her masculine behaviour. Which meant the chatty Kyotoite was going to be left without a vent for the evening. She decided to take her mind off it by loading up her dishwasher.

"Ucchan!" two voices shouted out in a near perfect synch.

Looking up she saw two Rankos in male form approaching her, Akane in toe and waving. Of course she knew one of the 'Rankos' was actually this Ranma she'd heard about, but she couldn't really tell which one he was.

Nervously, one of the 'twins' approached her grill. "I was wondering if I could maybe ask a favour."

"Sure Ran-chan. Anything for my best friend. Or her cute 'brother'... though I would like to know which one's which," Ukyo replied.

"I'm Ranko," the dark haired 'boy' before her replied. She held up her arms to show the rolled up sleeves and lack of cursed bracelet. "So... I was wondering if you could maybe give me some lessons on... cooking?"

"Sure thing!" Ukyo replied, beaming away. "Just go wash up and put on a uniform and we'll get started."

"Thanks Ucchan!" Ranko replied, bowing deeply before skipping on her way to the back. (Something which gained judgmental remarks from the old women in the corner, complaining about 'that too feminine boy,' not realising there were other nights they complained about Ranko being a hopeless tomboy.)

Ranma and Akane meanwhile sat down at the grill. Ukyo could tell Akane was a bit uneasy. She could sympathise with the girl, understanding how she was in love with Ranko, yet not ready to be in love with a girl. While also wanting to support her best friend in overcoming insecurities.

Ranma though, he was quite a bit more of a mystery to Ukyo. She'd heard a bit from Ranko about his being cursed as well, and how he was definitely a boy in Ranko's eyes. Yet... having seen them together (even this briefly) she felt that the difference might not be as great as Ranko thought. There was just something in this new boy's eyes... Before she could strike up a conversation though, Ranko returned, looking quite handsome in a waiter's uniform, and wearing an innocent smile.

"I'm ready to start, sensei!" Ranko announced with another deep bow.

Ukyo took a deep breath and set off into trying to give a total beginner some cooking lessons. (She'd heard the horror story of the one time Nodoka had asked Ranko to cook when they'd first been reunited...)

* * *

It had been a long four hours, and there was a lot of cleaning to do, but Ranko had made something resembling progress. The first two hours had been mostly wasted on her kicking herself as a perfectionist. It was only after everyone told her to calm down, and that she was _supposed_ to fail the first few times that she actually started learning.

The okonomiyaki she'd produced was horribly burnt, and still a bit runny on the inside, but it was almost edible. Unlike the three she'd somehow stuck to the ceiling. Or the one she'd managed to lose a spatula in...

"Yeah. I haven't hurt my teeth on anythin'... yet," Ranma commented, while munching on the latest attempt.

"Jerk," Ranko countered, though she was smiling, understanding that loving teasing was just Ranma's style. Afterall, she was much the same with Ryoga.

"I was wonderin' though, is Konatsu out shoppin' or something? Odd for her not to get back when it's this late," Ranma mentioned between mouthfuls.

"Who?" Ukyo asked, glancing to the other two to see Ranko and Akane looked just as confused.

"Konatsu... your ninja waitress?" Ranma replied. Realising he was getting nothing but confused stares he took a moment to think the issue over a bit. "Right... you said the old letch isn't in Japan anymore, didn't ya, Ranko?... It was his scheming that caused us ta meet her."

"What's she like?" Ukyo asked. "I could take on a waitress with my current revenues."

"I... huh," Ranma started, trying to work out the best way to describe Konatsu. "She's surprisingly dramatic for a ninja. Honestly, loads of fun too. Surprisin' she's always kept such a good attitude, considerin' how terrible her family was growin' up."

"Terrible family? How bad are we talkin' here?" Ranko asked.

"Cinderella-like," Ranma replied. "Only, kinda worse."

"We're going to save her then. It's our duty as martial artists," Ranko declared, raising a determined fist. "Where'd she be right now?"

"I'd have ta go find a map ta tell ya the nearest town names," Ranma said. "We were kinda hikin' aimlessly at the time."

* * *

It was early morning when Shampoo arrived at the Tendos'. The dew had still not yet evaporated. But Shampoo knew Akane was out on her morning jog by this point, which meant she could enjoy a bit more quality time with her future wife-husband.

Hopping up on the dividing wall, Shampoo spotted the red hair of her beloved Ranko running through a kata. Overjoyed the amazon girl launched herself like a torpedo at the pigtailed redhead.

" _Airen!_ Shampoo is here to give you affection that angry girl is afraid to offer," Shampoo announced as she rested her head against her love's soft chest.

"Gah! Shampoo! Lemme go!"

"Just a little longer. Want to enjoy this before going and finding useless boy doppelganger of beloved."

"Oh hey, Shampoo. You're here pretty early," Ranko said, pausing on the _engawa_ from her walk to the kitchen.

Staring at the one redhead, Shampoo was severely confused for a moment. Leaping back, she only now noticed the bracelet on Ranma's wrist.

"Aiyah! Boy have girl curse!" Shampoo yelped.

"Well, yeah," Ranma replied.

As the shock wore off, Shampoo turned to pounce the real Ranko, only to see that the girl had vanished.

"Bleh... at least now Shampoo understands what Ranma's Shampoo sees in him. Well, have important information from great-grandmother. Apparently Ranma cannot leave region where first appeared, or else magic of bracelet gets upset and make wearer sick. Has been dormant too long, needs to feed on own energy profile... or something like that," Shampoo explained, sounding almost reluctant to inform him.

"H-how big of a region?" Ranma asked.

"Um... Nerima should all be safe. Maybe nearby wards. Forget exact distance," Shampoo replied. "Was still waking up when Great Grandmother was giving instructions."

Ranma gave Shampoo a lidded stare at that answer. "Gee. Thanks for putting so much value on my safety."

"Didn't know you were more than just smelly boy then," Shampoo replied flatly, as if hers was a were perfectly reasonable position.

Ranma let out a sigh. Now he had to go explain to the others he couldn't come along. And what was he supposed to do? Just sit around and wait?

* * *

Sitting around and waiting was torture. How did anyone do this? He was going crazy, having to leave things to the others and just hope it went smoothly...

"Ranma, you look like you're going to explode," Nabiki said casually, as she ate her chips and watched the news. "They're probably not even out of Tokyo city limits yet."

"I know," Ranma sighed, wrapping his arms around his legs and staring out towards the koi pond.

Nabiki shrugged and went back to watching tv.

* * *

Working at the Neko Hanten had kept Ranma busy for the last two days, all the while waiting for others to return. It also him bounce schemes off Cologne on ways to return home. While it hadn't borne any fruit, it at least helped Ranma feel like he was doing _something_ in all this. Being powerless for both his exile and the Konatsu rescue effort did not sit well. (It was also strangely nice to be able to just have a conversation with Shampoo without any romance schemes. She was so delightfully bubbly in conversations about martial arts techniques.)

As he returned from the restaurant, feeling a bit tired, Ranma braced for more scrutiny from this Nodoka. It seemed like she was more disdainful of any shows of his feminine side than his own mother, and it was getting rather tiring.

"I'm home?" Ranma offered, noticing a distinct shortage of shoes in the genkan.

"Ah, yo Saotome-kun," Nabiki replied casually as she strolled out of the kitchen, munching away on some prawn chips. "Daddy and uncle went for drinks. Sis managed to drag auntie off on some quest for rare spices."

"Oh thank the kami. I know she's a version of my ma, and I love my ma, don't get me wrong, but yer version seems ta think I should worship the ground she walks on. Real tirin'."

"She's just used to it. Ranko idealises that woman to an unhealthy degree," Nabiki replied, not showing much interest in the conversation topic. "Either way, the girls and Oinkers should be back soon. Akane called from a payphone somewhere, gave Kasumi an ETA."

"Really? When abouts?"

"WE'RE HOME!" Ranko yelled as she slammed the door open, causing Ranma to jump slightly with the volume. "Oh, you guys were right here. Now I feel silly."

Behind Ranko were Ukyo and Akane (both taking their fingers out of their ears), as well as a rather dazed looking Konatsu. Clearly one of them had not prepared for Ranko's volume.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the real reason your chest is so big is to fit those lungs of yours," Nabiki grumbled, rubbing her ear.

"The old man always said a girl should know how to scream," Ranko replied, smiling away.

"This is such a beautiful home," Konatsu muttered dreamily.

It was then that Ranma noticed the ninja girl was wearing Chinese silks, rather than her usual clothing.

"Is that one a' my shirts?"

"No, you dolt, it's one of mine. Had to lend it to her after the fire burned up hers," Ranko replied. "Come on, I'll tell ya the whole story."

Ranko dragged Ranma off by the wrist towards the family room while the others followed. The redhead happily plopped herself down at the table and quickly began to give details about their bus ride. Then the hike up the mountains, where they 'found' Ryoga (Ranma noted the way Ranko pet the little pig in her lap when she mentioned that). Finally arriving at the tea house, Konatsu proved instantly thrilled at the idea of a rescue, but firmly disappointed at the way the rescuers had neither a white horse nor were any of them fairy god-parents. Then the fight that broke out with Konatsu's step family, where Ranko got very excited to describe every technique of the battle in detail. She was a bit too focused on the martial arts side, and forgot to mention when the fire started, causing more than a little confusion.

"Oh yeah, at some point one a' her step sisters knocked over some candles, and those hit a drape. Place was burnin' something fierce," Ranko explained, her grammar having gotten sloppier as she got more excited. "So, anyway. That's when her step-ma stumbled inta the fire and lit her kimono on fire. And then all the smoke bombs she was carryin' started going off. Then it was pandemonium. Since nobody could see anythin', she decided ta charge Konatsu, tryin' to tackle her. All she managed ta do was catch Konatsu' outfit on fire too. Yeah, so that's why I had to lend her some of mine."

"It was quite a surprise to see her without a shirt," Ukyo added, laughing a bit. "No wonder you said she lived with me at the restaurant in your world. We're definitely birds of a feather, even if her feelings are way stronger than mine. Ranko fits too, but she's gotta stay here."

Konatsu, for her part, blushed. "I still must say that this talk about parallel worlds stuff is way over my head, but thank you for helping to organise my rescue, Ranma-kun."

"Hey, you deserve way better than ta be stuck with yer terrible step family," Ranma replied casually.

"Well, I've got a restaurant to open. Come on Konatsu, I'll show you the ropes, and give you some knew clothes," Ukyo announced, hopping to her feet. "As cute as Ranchan is, her clothes are much too tomboyish for you."

"I, oh... yes! Yes of course," Konatsu replied nervously. "This is all so exciting."

* * *

It was just Ranma, Akane, and Ranko in the dojo a short while later. They were working on warm ups, with Both Saotomes were in male form, Ranko knowing Ranma would find it easier to go all in for the sparring.

"I'm still a little confused," Akane half whispered. "Konatsu doesn't have a curse or anything, so... why are we using 'she'?"

Ranma and Ranko both stared at her, clearly surprised by the question.

"Right, my Aka-er, the Akane back home was kinda confused to, after we talked ta Konatsu about it," Ranma replied. "But, she said she wished she was a girl, when-well, it was Tsubasa that bugged her about it actually. Wish I could say I'd asked, but no point in lyin'. Anyway, she lives like a girl, cause that's how she wants ta live. And... well, who's it hurtin' ta see and treat her as a girl?"

"Plus, she knows how to be a girl better than I do," Ranko added. "If she ain't a girl... well, I've got my curse too, so, if she ain't one then I feel like I can't say I'm one either. You're fine with me being a girl though, right? So it seems a bit hypo-wait, you are fine with that, ain't you Akane?"

Akane opened her mouth, clearly about to say something, only to look like she'd become lost in thought. To the surprise of both Saotome teens, tears soon followed.

"Akane, what's wrong?" Ranko asked, rushing over to hold the shorter girl.

Akane wiggled and pushed her way out of the hold. "Please, not right now. I'm confused, okay? I... kami, I've just got to come out and say it. Ranko, you've become my best friend, and I want to see you happy. And I know always treating you as a girl is what would do that, but... you're also my fiancé, and supposed to be my husband one day, and... and I want that future. I want it b-because I've fallen for you."

Ranko stared with confusion, before slowly panning her head towards Ranma. The other teen could do nothing but shrug, he had no clue how to fix this. Ranko gave a barely perceptible nod in reply and turned back to Akane.

"I-uh... but we..." Ranko stammered, having no clue how to respond to this.

"I know, I'm a mess," Akane sobbed. "I think my subconscious has been trying to pretend you're two different people... something Ranma showing up hasn't helped with. But you just... you were being so clearly a girl in boy mode lately, and especially around Konatsu, it short circuited my denial."

Ranko stepped forward and went for a tighter hug that Akane couldn't wiggle out of. "Akane... I'm sorry."

"No, you shouldn't be. I'm the one who's sorry. But... I just want you to know it will take me time to figure this out," Akane whispered, holding tight against Ranko's cursed form.

* * *

After Akane's confession, things had been awkward. Ranko had ended up in Kasumi's room, while Ranma had taken to sleeping in the dojo. It was tense and Ranko tried to keep things light and give Akane her space.

Still, the time had been productive. Ranko had been hard at work with her cooking lessons from Ukyo (and Ranma at times). She still couldn't cook a _good_ okonomiyaki. Or even a decent one. But at least it was recognisable what she was trying to make. And she'd mastered instant noodles with Ranma's help. Akane had made similar progress, and both girls were quite excited.

There had also been the evening where Ranko had received a quick makeover from Konatsu in cursed form. The ninja girl did a good enough job that Ryoga, who'd shown up again that morning, accidentally ate his chopsticks (and Ranma couldn't help feeling a bit odd, know that his birth form could look _that_ pretty with just a little makeup).

Ranma had no idea how to help Ranko and Akane with their confused relationship, no matter how much he tried to come up with ideas. Mostly it reminded him enough of his own situation with his Ukyo, a dilemma he also had no idea how to solve, that he couldn't get an objective read on it. Shampoo as well, he had no clue what could help with that situation.

There was another confrontation, though, that Ranma felt he could help with. Ranko was clearly terrified to confront her mother, the woman she was raised to see as the embodiment of femininity. They'd rehearsed their line of argument a good dozen times, yet Ranma was convinced he had to push Ranko to do this while he was still there or else it would never get done.

"Come on, she's waiting for us in the dojo. It's not good to be too slow," Ranma sighed as Ranko paced her room she shared with Akane.

"B-but... what if she throws me out for trying to disobey her?" Ranko asked nervously.

"She won't. If she does... well, then she's not much of a mom, and she doesn't deserve ta have ya around," Ranma replied.

If it had been his own Nodoka Ranma would never be so bold, but Ranko's mother... for some reason her constant pressures to make her daughter masculine bothered him far more than his own mother's attempts to make the 'Ranko' he'd pretended to be feminine. He supposed if his own mother had ever knowingly tried to make him abandon his masculinity he'd get just as defensive.

Ranko nodded. She was a bit reluctant, but knew she needed to do this. She also knew she'd probably be too nervous on her own.

"It's just so hard to confront her. I was raised with her as my ideal to strive for," Ranko whispered as she followed Ranma down the stairs. "Disobeying your role model is terrifying."

Ranma placed a reassuring hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I'm here ta back you up, whatever happens. And I know Ryoga will too."

Ranko reached up and took Ranma's hand. "Y'know, I wish you'd been around when I was a kid. I never wondered what having a brother'd be like before, but you're not half bad."

Ranma chuckled. "Come on, if we'd grown up together we'd probably be drivin' each other nuts. I'm just on my best behaviour since I'm a guest."

"Oh man, you're probably right. I bet the old man would have tried to pit us against each other all the time," Ranko added, laughing away.

The pair started to talk about various things they'd have probably fought about, laughing happily on the short walk to the dojo. As soon as they reached the doors though, Ranko's mood dropped.

"C'mon," Ranma said, sliding the door open.

Nodoka was sat quietly, having apparently begun to plan out her schedule for the week in the time she'd been waiting. She looked up at the pair as they walked in, and studied them as they approached her and sat down a polite distance. Her eyes narrowed as she confirmed which one was wearing the cursed bracelet.

"Ranko, what is the meaning of this? Ranma told me you had something important to talk about, and now you're here in female form. I've told you that discipline is required in your quest to become a decent husband."

"I... well, you see... that's..." Ranko began, before turning to Ranma with puppy eyes. "Help."

Seeing just how cute and helpless that look was made Ranma feel a little guilty about how often he'd used it on Akane back home to get ice cream and other minor things... Swallowing nervously, he turned to Nodoka. She wasn't his mother, but now, with her cold and analysing gaze locked upon him, the similarities were making him waver a little too.

"It's all her pop's fault," Ranma blurted.

"You should show a bit more respect for a man who is, effectively, your father," Nodoka chided.

"Hard ta respect a man who messed up as badly as he did when it comes to raisin' a daughter," Ranma countered. "The old man's messed up ideas about women is the reason Ranko's so panicked about her femininity."

"Genma informed me he gave Ranko many opportunities to engage in feminine behaviour, and that she rarely put in any effort. By the age of 10 he'd given up."

"H-he only gave me the opportunity to fail," Ranko whispered.

Her mother's gaze switching to her, with a raised eyebrow that seemed to say 'continue', though it also sent a shiver down Ranko's spine. She'd started though, and she wasn't going to back out now. She was Saotome Ranko, darn it! She didn't lose.

"He thought my just being a girl meant I was supposed to be born with these skills. And always said that if he tried to help, being a man, he'd just make things worse. That there was a reason some tasks were 'women's work'. B-but I didn't know how to cook or to sew without any help when I was 7. I've only found out now how much help Kasumi and Uc-Ukyo had as kids," Ranko blurted.

Nodoka's eyes suddenly grew harsh. For a moment Ranko almost feared for her life, until Nodoka's glare shifted towards the direction of the Tendo home. "I gave him _several_ recipe books to teach you from. As well as a book on etiquette, and another on home crafts. You saw none of those?"

Ranko paused a moment, racking her memory (which had never been the greatest). After a minute or two of thought, she finally spoke. "I... I think I remember seeing him pawn some books when I was really little? Maybe?"

Nodoka's eye twitched. "He told me he lost them in the swim to China... So, then, does this mean you wish to try once more on the path of womanhood?"

Ranko nodded. "I'm not sure I'll master it any time soon, but I'm gonna try my best."

"I'll admit that it's certainly more natural for me, to have my daughter grow up a woman. However, a young woman should talk more politely than that," Nodoka replied.

"R-right! Sorry mom-er, mother," Ranko corrected, blushing a bit.

"Of course, the leaves the Tendo engagement in a slightly odd place. Legally it can't be worked out if you will be living as a girl. There's a lot to be discussed, both about that engagement and about your father's parenting methods," Nodoka said, as much to herself as anything. "Tell me, though, how do you feel about Akane, Ranko?"

"I, um, well, she's my best friend."

"Yes, but romantically?" Nodoka asked. "You've been playing the role of her future husband for a while. I'll not be upset if you've developed feelings."

"What? Nah, there's no... no way that... er," Ranko began to blush furiously as she thought back on some of the times they were especially close. The way saving Akane from certain crises felt. Holding the other girl close as they ran for safety... "Oh... well, maybe there's a tiny bit of something there. Maybe. Just a tiny bit though, I swear. Plus, we're still young, so, ain't I supposed to, right? And... and I've got a boy I like too though."

Nodoka nodded. "Your father has a lot to answer for. But familial honour might have to take primacy over feelings of the heart, sadly. We shall see how Tendo replies."

With that, Nodoka excused herself and headed towards the home. Ranma and Ranko watched her quietly, before Ranma turned to a still blushing Ranko.

"Wait, ya really like Akane that way?" Ranma asked.

"I didn't think so, but when I went to give a firm denial that could end it... suddenly I couldn't. I wouldn't ever chose her over Ryoga, but I feel like I can't bring myself to say no either," Ranko muttered, half to the floor.

"Hey, I understand that feelin'. Me an' Ucchan back home are in a similar boat. Maybe Shampoo too, but there's more mind games there," Ranma replied, slumping out of the seiza seating. "It's almost too bad tha-"

Suddenly Ranma's bracelet began to pulse a bright green light.

"Ah dang! Ah dang! That's the five minute warnin'!" Ranma yelped, hopping to his feet. "I... right, good, I've got the clothes ya leant me down here with the bedroll."

Ranma hurried over and shoved the bedroll into the duffle bag in the corner, with the clothing. "I really hope I'm gonna end up at another Tendo Dojo, but who knows where the next me'll be livin'."

Before Ranma could panickedly say anything else, he found Ranko hugging him.

"Thanks for the help. I hope you can get back home soon," the redhead said.

"Hey, just provided ya tips that my life let me know. I'm sure you woulda been just as big a help in my world," Ranma replied, awkwardly hugging his cross dimensional 'sister'/doppelganger. "Ya should probably let go though. Not sure if ya'd get sucked along or not if ya held on."

"Oh! Good point!" Ranko yelped, hopping back. "Well, have fun in the multiverse."

"I'll try my-"

With a flash of green flame, Ranma was gone. Ranko was left waving to empty air.


	3. Chapter 2: The Boys

**Chapter 2: The Boys**

From here on out, there's going to be more than one Ranma in scenes for most chapters. To avoid confusion, I will be marking them clearly. Original Ranma is RanmaA. This new Ranma, being the 2nd we see, is RanmaA. The next AU will still have RanmaA, but will instead of RanmaB will have RanmaC. And so forth.

RanmaA was in the air when the flash subsided, though it took him a moment to realise he was upside down. He hit his head against the dirt a split second later, and he found himself once more on his back, this time lying in what seemed to be the Tendo yard. Not too far away he heard noise from the TV.

"I wonder what this world has in store fer me," RanmaA grumbled, not wanting to get up quite yet.

"Wait, there's two of you?" a male voice RanmaA couldn't quite identify said.

"That's news ta me," a voice that was definitely RanmaB's replied.

RanmaA casually held up the arm with the bracelet. "It's called the bracelet of exile or somethin'. Ancient Chinese artifact. Happosai stuck it on me. I'm fallin' between worlds until people back home can convince him ta forgive me."

"That's quite the introduction," the boy with the oddly familiar voice replied.

Curiosity getting the better of him, RanmaA hopped to his feet, and was severely confused by what he saw. The mysterious guy was... Nabiki?

Obviously the face was male, and the hairstyle was different (still brown, and on the longer side for a guy however), but the way the features sat and that calculating glint in his eyes all screamed Nabiki.

"Wait, you've got a Jusenkyo curse in this universe, Nabiki?" RanmaA asked, learning towards the masculine Tendo.

"What? No? And why are you calling me Nabiki?" the boy replied.

"Wait, so, no curse? You're just a guy?" RanmaA asked. A slow nod from the Tendo boy caused RanmaA to blush a bit. "Heh, sorry 'bout that. Just where I came from, and the other universe I was in, all the Tendo kids are girls."

That drew surprised stares from the other two.

"Do you have any pictures?" RanmaB asked. "I just can't picture any of them as girls, especially not Kazumi."

"...Any? Ya mean, they're all guys here?" RanmaA replied, likewise struggling to picture what the other two Tendos could look like as boys.

"Unless they've been running some kind of highly elaborate ruse my whole life," the masculine middle Tendo replied. "I'm going to second the picture request. And, just so you know, my name is Natsuo."

"Uh, gimme a sec," RanmaA said, pulling out his wallet to search for the one photo he had of all three Tendos. It was a little embarrassing that he was in girl mode and in a dress for that party, but the dress had looked so good on him... well, another version of himself surely wouldn't judge? "Here ya go. And they're named Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane."

Natsuo and RanmaB leaned in to stare at the small picture.

"Oh man, Kaneda'll get so ticked if ya show him that... too bad he's at Kendo practice right now," RanmaB said, a mischievous smirk growing on his face.

"Nabiki's very cute. Nice to see," Natsuo added, a smug look on his own face. "Who's the girl with the buns though?"

RanmaA blinked and spun the picture around, to make sure they were talking about who he thought they were talking about. There was indeed only one other girl in the photo. "That's Shampoo? Did you not meet her?"

"That's Shampoo? And he's a girl too?" RanmaB said. "Dang, if ours had gotten a girl curse rather than a cat curse, I might just have accepted his proposal on the spot."

For that, RanmaB received a flick on the cheek form Natsuo. "What's a guy supposed to do with an unloyal fiancé like you?"

"Don't bring that up right away! You'll give him totally the wrong impression of me!" RanmaB protested.

"He's you. I don't think it's possible to give him the wrong impression," Natsuo replied.

"It just means pops is utterly shameless," RanmaA grumbled. "Engaging a girl to another girl and a guy to a guy. Yeesh."

"Wait, you're a girl?" RanmaB asked.

RanmaA blushed furiously. "No! I... this is the 2nd place I've visited. The me... er, the us? Which-whatever, she was a girl with a boy curse, and Soun had all daughters there, like where I'm from, but Pops decided it was a perfectly acceptable arrangement."

"Man, too bad her and I couldn't trade," RanmaB replied.

"I'm crushed that you would say something like that," Natsuo said, wrapping an arm around his fiancé's shoulder. "To think that my future spouse would want to abandon me so easily."

RanmaB rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "You should have joined the drama club."

"Wait, so, uh... are you two a thing, or?" RanmaA asked, feeling a bit confused by the idea... or some other emotion he couldn't quite place. And not sure he was following either way.

"Nah, this doofus just likes ta tease me. I don't swing that way," RanmaB replied flatly, shrugging Natsuo off.

"Won't Yukiyo be upset to hear that," Natsuo countered, laughing.

"Who's Yukiyo?" RanmaA asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"The cutest little Okonomiyaki chef you'll ever meet. Isn't that right, dear?" Natsuo explained as RanmaB blushed furiously.

"Th-that's different," RanmaB protested, crossing his arms and pouting. "Yukiyo's almost a girl..."

"Okay, I've gotta see both yer Shampoo and this Yukiyo. Anybody else the opposite sex here?" RanmaA asked.

"How would I know?" RanmaB replied. "Like, I'll guess yer Mousse is probably a guy?"

RanmaA nodded.

"Well, let's go get some afternoon snacks," Natsuo said. "I'll show you my competition for this hunk."

RanmaA found himself grabbed by the wrist and pulled along by Natsuo, who had the other Ranma's hand in his other hand. They quickly made their way to the front door where the others quickly tossed their shoes on.

With that they were off, and, to RanmaA's surprise, that meant roof hopping. Natsuo's form wasn't quite as clean as the other two's, but RanmaA had to acknowledge he was half decent.

Taking the direct route, it only took a few minutes before they'd made it to the Neko Hanten. The trio paused at the door as RanmaB made sure to slide behind his doppelgänger.

"What's the big idea?" RanmaA asked.

"Just thought it'd be good for you ta go first," the other pigtailed boy replied. "Get the full experience."

"Fine, whatever," the exiled boy grumbled, before heading into the restaurant and bracing for impact.

"Airen!" a rich and masculine voice called out. The lad it belonged to caused RanmaA's brain to short circuit a bit, as he was definitely Shampoo, so much so that the pigtailed youth's subconscious insisted that he was cute, yet was also a dashing and well muscled guy.

A moment later RanmaA found himself being hugged, though rather than being jumped on, he was being lifted off his feet. The exiled boy didn't know how to react and more or less went limp while blushing furiously. His brain still couldn't quite process this Shampoo was a guy.

This was nearly as confusing as Ryoga kissing him had been.

"Maybe I should trade, this Ranma seems to be enjoying his hug," Natsuo said casually from somewhere behind RanmaA.

"Wait, two Ranmas?" Shampoo asked, setting RanmaA down beside the other.

The Chinese boy, whose eyes definitely had the same (deceptive) innocent looking sparkle as the Shampoo RanmaA knew, looked back and forth between the two Saotome teens, checking how their heights compared, how thick their arms were, and various other tests. Finally, he turned to Natsuo.

"So, which one do I keep?"

"I ain't stayin'!" RanmaA half shouted, not wanting to let his mind linger on the confusion on how to think about this Shampoo. Ranma held up the arm with the bracelet. "I'll be here a couple of weeks, then it's off to another world."

"The Liufang Xiubiao," a raspy old voice said.

Turning, the three guests could only be so surprised that Cologne had snuck up on them. The ancient ghoul looked much the same as the other two RanmaA had met.

"Yeah, I got the basics in the last world," the exiled boy replied. "I was just here ta see what on earth Shampoo'd look like as a guy."

"I am girl in your world?" Shampoo asked.

"Got a picture right here," Natsuo said, sliding over to show the Joketsuzoku boy.

"Wait, you still have that!?" RanmaA protested, trying to reach for it, but having Natsuo pull it out of reach. "Give it back!"

"Come on, just let Shampoo here see it, then I'll hand it over," Natsuo countered.

Ranma grumbled in acceptance while Cologne and Shampoo leaned in at the small picture.

"A lovely young woman, I'm sure her great grandmother is proud," Cologne commented.

"Such clean makeup and nice dress," Shampoo added. "Very refined looking. And funny to see Tendo brothers as girls. Kaneda is so short!"

"I know, right?" Natsuo replied, laughing away while handing the photo back to a very annoyed RanmaA.

"Stranger Ranma has a very good makeup skills too," Shampoo noted. "Are you really girl, or just less stubborn than my Ranma?"

"I ain't yours," the local pigtailed boy protested.

"I'm a guy. I just... well, I maybe picked up some makeup tips in a house with three girls," the exiled teen added, blushing furiously. "But, like... it's not like it's outta any real effort or whatever."

RanmaA felt the way the others were staring, but didn't know what else to say.

"Stop lookin' at him like that," RanmaB protested. "I... it's not easy goin' out looking like a girl and not having any idea how to act like one. Trust me, I get plenty of comments. Learnin' how to blend in is an essential skill."

RanmaA nodded. "What he said."

RanmaA also did his best to ignore the nagging memories of how Ranko's exploration of masculinity, and how he'd felt an odd jealousy.

"Oh gods, there's two of them?" a feminine voice said from behind both Ranma's.

Turning, RanmaA was briefly confused by who the cute girl in a flowing hanfu could be. At least until he noticed the glasses.

"Mousse?" RanmaA asked.

"Yeah? I thought I was the one with eye issues," the girl grumbled.

"He's from another universe," Shampoo explained, wrapping his arm around RanmaA's shoulder (and causing the poor exiled lad to feel another jolt of confused emotion). "Apparently the Tendos and I are girls there, and you're a boy."

The girl Mousse's face scrunched up. "That just sounds so wrong on every level."

RanmaA shook out of Shampoo's reach, hiding behind Natsuo for good measure. "W-well, apparently I get to meet Yukiyo next, but, um, it was interesting seeing you both."

"It seems our guest is in a hurry to run a meet and greet, so, we'll see you all later," Natsuo added, taking RanmaB by the hand as the trio hurried off.

They'd gone a few blocks before the trio came to a halt on a roof.

"So, Saotome... I guess you're even more heteroflexible than my Ranma?" Natsuo said.

"W-what?" both Ranma's asked in unison.

"I saw the way you were blushing about Shampoo hugging you," Natsuo replied.

"Er... I just couldn't not see my Shampoo in him. It fried my brain, because half of it was saying he was Shampoo, so had to be one of the cutest girls I've ever met. But the other half was still processing him as a guy," RanmaA muttered, nervous to make eye contact.

"Heh, well, now you know how the rest of us feel about you then," Natsuo replied, a smug grin spreading across his face.

"Are we really that confusing?" RanmaB asked.

"For some people. I'm lucky, I'm just furiously bi, so like both your forms, but... I've definitely heard some boys in my class complaining about not knowing how to feel about liking that smoking hot redhead."

"Man, I almost feel bad about teasing P-er, Ryoga so much," RanmaA muttered to himself.

"P? Like P-chan? He's still a pig in your universe too?" Natsuo asked.

"Yeah. I guess curses are pretty consistent. Him and me havin'... wait, no. Ranko had the Nannichuan curse. Still, three for three with piggy Ryoga," RanmaA replied. "Course, Ranko named him Oinkers, and knew who he was when she was holdin' him."

"Oh man, if Kaneda clued in to his beloved pet being another guy... I'd take a nice vacation to Okinawa to be safe," RanmaB said, laughing a bit to himself.

"Wonder if it would go better or worse than my Akane finding out," RanmaA replied, before his stomach growled. "Right, okonomiyaki!"

"This way!" RanmaB declared, hopping off in the direction his exiled counterpart had expected.

The trip across Nerima rooftops was short enough, and the trio made sure to switch to ground level on a quieter side street before heading up to Yucchan's. The first thing that Ranma noticed as they approached was the increased level of pink on the sign (otherwise known as any pink at all). Stepping inside, the decorations were also quite different. More art on the walls, nicer calligraphy for the menu, and... it just generally seemed decorated compared to Ucchan's efficiency.

The cook behind the grill looked deceptively familiar however. This chef still had long brown hair, accented with a bow (though it was patterned with sakura flowers), and a face that was identical to Ukyo's (however, eyeliner and a soft lipstick colour added to an overall increase in femininity on the face).

"Ranchan! And... another Ranchan? What's going on?"

"He's an unexpected visitor," RanmaB replied.

"Magical artifact has left me exiled away from my home... dimension? Universe? I don't really know science stuff," RanmaA explained.

Yukiyo hurried around the grill to get a closer look at the visitor. "Wow, he's downright identical. There's got to be some sort of differences though, right?"

"Well, with this universe the difference is more for other people," RanmaA explained, realising he'd been studying Yukiyo's glossy lips and blushing as a result. "Uh... see..."

Natsuo leaned in. "All his fiancées are girls."

"Really?" Yukiyo replied, eyes lighting up with curiosity. "I want to know all about that. Do you have pictures? What am I like?"

"We saw a picture of me and my brothers as girls, and also Shampoo... you should show him. Haven't seen a picture of your counterpart though... I kind of want to see too," Natsuo added.

"Yeah, I'm curious," RanmaB replied.

RanmaA blushed. "I... well, I don't actually have a picture of Ucchan. I... tryin' ta have a picture of just one fiancée leads to chaos. Just got the one I showed and one of me and ma."

Yukiyo pouted, before turning to their own fiance. "You have my picture, right Ranma?"

"Yeah? I've got, like, a dozen. I swear photo booths are your favourite thing after okonomiyaki and make up," RanmaB replied.

"I... there ain't really need for you ta see a picture though, if it's any consolation. You look exactly like Ucchan, only... well, only girlier," RanmaA said. When he noticed the looks of confusion, he continued his explanation. "She, uh, she gave up her life as a girl after pops' fake engagement scam and still ain't quite back inta being a girl."

"Relatable," Yukiyo replied.

This time it was RanmaA's turn to give a look of confusion.

"Well, you see, when my Ranma and I first met, I thought he was a girl. And, well, I kinda got myself a crush. When I was heartbroken after he left, my dad complained about me crying over another guy," Yukiyo explained. "I got seriously confused with that, and decided that, if I'd fallen in love with a guy, then maybe I was a girl. Somehow. So I experimented, and I kind of liked it."

"You thought I-er, he was a girl? How?" RanmaA asked, looking back and forth between Yukiyo and the other Ranma.

"It's a bit of a long story," RanmaB replied. "How about we chat over food?"

Yukiyo laughed. "Food always comes first with you. Alright. Other Ranma has to pay for his food though, even if he is just as cute."

As Yukiyo cooked, RanmaA was told about how this Ranma had mistaken Yukiyo for a girl as well. How the two of them had tried to invite the other to girly things as a childish attempt at flirting, excited to find a 'girl' who liked martial arts. And how this spiralled into a promise to marry one another when they were older.

As the pair laughed, RanmaA's eyes drifted over to Natsuo, and he noticed a discomfort in the other lad's body language. He was trying to figure out what to make of that when the back door opened up and a handsome young man emerged.

"I've finished grating the yams for the evening, Yukiyo-sama," the lad said with a bow.

RanmaA tried to place him, but was struggling.

"Good work, Ko-kun," Yukiyo replied, with a casual thumbs up.

RanmaA blinked. "Ko-ku—Konatsu?"

The boy leapt back a bit, his body language utterly shocked. "T-two Ranmas!?"

"Magic," RanmaB replied with a hand flourish.

This masculine Konatsu nodded. "Ahh."

"It's funny, but yer a bit shorter than the Konatsu back home. Well, shorter and a guy. But this world's got so many folks switched around I can only be so surprised by that part."

"I think I'm going to need a bit more explanation," the boy replied.

RanmaA gave the quick rundown of the exile magic once again, which the other lad didn't totally follow, but it wasn't like RanmaA totally understood it all either.

"So your Tendos are all girls, Shampoo's a girl, Mousse is a girl," Konatsu said, as he tried to make sure he understood that part.

"Yep. And my Konatsu's a girl... wait, I think I might have figured out something," RanmaA said, before realising he had no idea how to word this delicately. "Uh... so... er, she's interested in Jusenkyo magic for reasons. Do you have a similar interest for similar reasons?"

"Oooh! She's a girl that way. Suddenly I'm way less uncomfortable," this Konatsu replied. "And, yeah. Saving up for a trip."

"Nah. I'm saving up for the trip," Yukiyo said. "You thought 2 000 yen could get you to China."

Konatsu shrunk a bit. "It's my pay that you saving though... I just didn't really get much money growing up. Step family weren't very generous... have to admit to being a bit jealous of the girl back where you're from though."

RanmaA briefly wanted to ask about this male Konatsu's life, but saw pain in the other boy's eyes and bit his tongue.

"Anyhow, Ranchan," Yukiyo announced. "Since you're here anyway: what do you say to starting your Saturday shift a little early?"

"Am I getting paid extra?" RanmaB asked.

"Are you saying that spending more time with your cute fiancé isn't enough reward?" Yukiyo replied, their body language overly dramatic.

"Pops just wants ta see cold hard yen," RanmaB countered.

"As do I," Natsuo muttered.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll pay you the extra hours," Yukiyo replied, briefly giving Natsuo a bit of a stink eye.

"Well, I've got homework. You coming, Saotome? I don't think Yukiyo has the budget for two waitresses," Natsuo asked as he headed towards the door.

RanmaA looked around a moment, feeling unsure, before realising where he'd learn more. "Yeah, Ukyo'd kill me for lending out my services for free. See you guys later."

With that, RanmaA hurried after Natsuo. To his surprise, the boy stuck to walking at street level. They'd gone a few blocks in silence before RanmaA couldn't take it anymore.

"You... do you actually like him?"

Natsuo replied with pained eyes. "I love him. But I can't compete with Yukiyo. He wants a wife, and Yukiyo can play that role. I can't."

"I... I'm sorry," was all RanmaA could offer.

Natsuo gave him a smirk that didn't reach the Tendo boy's eyes. "I didn't expect you to have a solution. You're a Ranma too, and... as cute as he is, I know my Ranma's not the best at problem solving. Outside martial arts."

The pair walked in silence a bit longer, RanmaA torn on what to do. Natsuo had seemed nice so far, and yet... he was also Nabiki on some level, wasn't he? Nabiki was an excellent actress who knew how to tug at someone's heartstrings when needed. So could he trust Natsuo?

* * *

The exiled Ranma chose the refuge of martial arts, running through his katas with extra ferocity. He didn't want to have to deal with this dilemma. The idea of being engaged to a guy felt wrong to him, like it meant Genma would be ignoring who he was, and just wanting to have him turn into a wife. And he was sure the local Ranma felt the same. But watching the heartbreak in Natsuo's eyes wasn't pleasant at all.

Confused feelings swelling despite his efforts to swallow them, RanmaA let out a primal roar with the finishing move of his kata. He needed a change of scenery. A quick bath, and then try some tv as a distraction, maybe. Just shut his brain off for a bit.

Tired and lost in thought as he reached the bath, he tossed his clothes off quickly (annoyed he still couldn't remove the bracelet) before sliding the door open... at which point he realised the bath was occupied.

Occupied by someone who added a level of confusion that the exiled boy simply couldn't handle.

And, as such, he proceeded to faint.

* * *

RanmaA felt a light slapping on his cheek. Opening his eyes, he found himself looking up into soft brown eyes that could only belong to that uncute tomboy he loved so much.

"Oh hey, Akane. What's-" the pigtailed boy becan, before scrambling up and backwards, covering himself with a blush as he remembered he was naked in front of Akane.

His next issue was realising that it wasn't Akane in front of him, but rather the youngest Tendo boy of this world. Another issue was that the other boy was naked, and didn't seem overly concerned with modesty at the moment (which meant the dislocated Ranma was seeing a view he had no idea how to process).

"You okay Saotome? And who is this Akane?" the boy asked.

RanmaA found himself at a loss for words. Fainting hadn't solved any of his issues, so he was no more on top of things than he'd been before blacking out. "Y-you're... and..."

RanmaA shut his eyes, hoping that the image would leave his retina soon enough. He just didn't know how to process that when his mind wanted to tell him the person in front of him was Akane. It wasn't that he had an issue with nudity, but... Akane wasn't supposed to look like that.

"Seriously, Ranma, do you want me to call for Dr. Tofu?" Kaneda asked, his voice sounding nicer than the pigtailed boy was expecting, now that RanmaA was actually processing it.

"I don't know if Natsuo told you, but... I'm not the local Ranma," RanmaA replied, eyes still closed as he raised his arm to show the bracelet attached. "I've been sent drifting between dimensions by this dumb thing. I can't get home on my own."

"Really? Man... you... er, both you and our Ranma, live the craziest life... lives?" Kaneda replied.

"Lives. I'd say lives," RanmaA said, opening his eyes, but trying not to look as his conversation partner. "I... there's some major differences. The engagements set up is definitely a big one."

"Wait... are you trying to imply that I'm engaged to you where you come from?" Kaneda asked, anger slipping into his voice. "Because I definitely don't swing that way!"

The exiled Ranma's cheeks grew hot. "Y-you and your brothers are also all girls where I'm from, so... it's... it's all ever different."

"I... I'm not sure how to process that," Kaneda replied hesitantly.

"I'm not sure how to process you being a naked guy, so we're both in an awkward situation," RanmaA said, still not looking at the other lad.

"Wh-oh! I... I'll go dry off then," Kaneda offered, getting up to head out the door.

It was a few moments before RanmaA regained enough calm to go about washing up. Heading out from the bath, he braced for whatever this world might have him face next as he went out towards the living room.

He found Kaneda sitting there patiently. Nervously, RanmaA sat down across from him, a bit too nervous to look at the other boy. It seemed Kaneda was also unsure how to respond to RanmaA's story either.

"Ah, so you two met?" Natsuo said, strolling casually into the room with a bag of chips in hand. "Did you show him the picture?"

"Picture? What picture?" Kaneda asked.

"I, uh, this one," RanmaA mumbled as he passed the photo over.

"Akane's got the blue hair?" Kaneda asked.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah."

"She's... well, she's really pretty," Kaneda said, though RanmaA couldn't help feel like the other boy had more to say.

Instead, though, Kaneda just slid the photo back to him.

* * *

Dinner had been a surprise for RanmaA. Kazumi was apparently out studying all evening, while Soun was off at work. This left RanmaA alone with Kaneda, Natsuo, and this world's Genma (who took a few moments to understand this RanmaA was not in fact RanmaB skipping work). The lack of supplies in the kitchen had ruined the exiled teen's plans to cook something.

"Okay, so what are we going to do about food?" RanmaA asked, head still in the fridge as if food might appear if he kept looking.

"Delivery, usually," Natsuo replied, sounding honestly confused.

"That can't be very affordable," RanmaA said, finally giving up on the fridge.

"Eh, Kazumi and dad bring in plenty of cash," Natsuo countered with a shrug.

The argument over just what to order took an amount of time one might have found surprising... if they didn't know Kaneda (or Akane in RanmaA's case). The youngest Tendo insisted on Indian food, and was not ready to budge. Eventually the others caved, and half an hour later they were enjoying some foreign curries.

* * *

RanmaA tossed on a pair of his local counterpart's clean clothing to serve as pajamas. After a bit of thought, he'd decided it was best to wait up for the local Ranma to try and discuss things.

It was nice not having to share a room with Genma, though he didn't quite understand the why of it.

And hour or so of flipping through the other Ranma's school notes, which he was disappointed to see were as sparse as his own and filled with doodles of martial arts moves instead, RanmaA leapt to his feet due to the sound of the window opening. He was met by the sight of a petite redhead scrambling in the window, hints of makeup still on that adorable face.

"I hope it's okay I was lookin' through your school stuff?" RanmaA asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Kind of a boring way ta spend an evening though?" the shorter Ranma replied.

"I don't want to fall too far behind," RanmaA explained. "I don't know how long I'm gonna be lost for."

The redhead nodded. "I guess that makes sense... So... uh, do you... d'you think I'm makin' a weird decision by fallin' for Yukiyo?"

RanmaA blinked and turned to their pseudo doppelganger. "Whaddya mean? Like, compared ta your Shampoo or Natsuo or... uh... a Kuno?"

RanmaB blushed a little. "Well, just, since he's a guy still... sort of. And, I dunno. I'm not even sure who'd end up in the dress if we got married."

"Heh, I guess that's true. Still, Yukiyo has ta be ma's favourite groom option," RanmaA replied, shrugging a little.

"Ma? Wait? Mom's alive?" RanmaB asked, the redhead's eyes widening.

"What yeah, she's... wait," RanmaA began to reply, before his heart dropped into his stomach. "Sh-she is where I'm from, but I just realised I can't actually say 100% for sure for you."

RanmaB's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the door. "Only way ta find out is ta ask pops."

RanmaA grabbed his shorter counterpart by the elbow. "I gotta warn you about her though."

"W-warn me? I... well, I guess nobody sane would marry pops," the redhead muttered.

"Well, the contract is really pop's fault, but ma's actually big on being honourable, so she wants to enforce it. But, well, it demands ya be a 'man among men', which is a bit stressful with the curse. Though ya can prove your manhood with some heroics," the dark haired boy explained. A blush quickly grew on his face however. "Uh, but, uh, exploring girl stuff on your own ain't really an option."

The redhead stared up at him for a moment, and the dark haired boy felt terrified for a moment that he'd give a warning he shouldn't. He wasn't even sure why he'd said it. He was a guy... but, well, it wasn't like he hated girl side. Being cute could be fun.

Then the redhead's expression softened. "It's already not really an option. Shampoo or Pops would both be happy to stuff me in a wedding dress the day I dress as a girl without a really good excuse. I... it's kind of something I like about bein' around Yukiyo. I get all dolled up, and I can say it's just for work, or whatever... Y'know, it kind of feels good to admit that to someone... even if that someone is basically me."

"It's such a weird thing, ain't it? All that... girl stuff. 'Course, Ranko kinda liked guy stuff, so I blame pops on us turnin' out all confused," RanmaA replied as he let go of his counterpart.

"Sounds fair. Always happy ta blame him for things. Usually the safe bet," the redhead replied with a smirk. "Well, let's go give him a scare."

"Mhm... wait, I think I just had a better idea," RanmaA said. "We could just go visit ma... er, your ma, tomorrow. Skip over pop's lies. Give him a real shock when we show up with her."

RanmaB nodded. "Ooh. I like it."

RanmaA gave his counterpart a smirk. He was so busy scheming that he forgot about his concerns for Natsuo. The pair instead found themselves busy trying to work out an explanation to give Nodoka.

* * *

The pair of boys, both male now, slipped out of the Tendo home in the early morning. Neither were thrilled about having to get up so early, but wanted to avoid anyone catching them.

The first stop was Yucchan's Okonomiyaki. Knocking lightly on the door, Konatsu answered before they finished.

"May I help you?" the ninja boy asked.

"Is Yukiyo awake?" RanmaB asked.

"One moment," the lad replied, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Huh, the dramatics must be genetic," RanmaA half mumbled.

A few moments later, Yukiyo appeared, a little drowsy, and looking more like Ukyo with the lack of makeup. Though the hair curlers were certainly something RanmaA suspected Ukyo would never wear.

"Hey cuties, what's up?" the chef asked.

"According to, um, other me, apparently my mom's alive and we were headin' to go see her," RanmaB explained. "And, well, she's apparently a little old fashioned. So... would you be willin' to stick to sayin' your a girl around her?"

Yukiyo stared at him flatly. "I went to an all girl's middle school. I'm quite capable of saying I'm a girl."

"Nice!" RanmaB declared, grabbing the chef's hands. "I knew I could rely on ya, Yukiyo."

Watching the pair hug made RanmaA remember how lonely he'd been feeling.

RanmaB gave Yukiyo a quick wave, before the interdimensional twins headed off, parkouring their way across the city. They were starting to get a little bored as they came to a stop somewhere near the boundary between Suginami and Setagaya.

"Hm, it's been a little while, and I was only down this way a couple a' times," RanmaA muttered as he looked around. "I think it was over that way."

"You think?" RanmaB asked.

"Eh... Some of the girls kinda trashed the place, so she had to move in with the Tendos," the exiled boy replied. "So, I didn't really have time ta memorise the route."

The pair set off towards the direction RanmaA remembered. Getting closer, they switched to walking along on the street, wanting a more normal first impression.

After a few blocks of quiet residential streets, RanmaA spotted the correct home and jogged over with his 'twin'. As the pair approached the house, they spotted Nodoka out in the garden, watering some plants. When she turned around and spotted the two boys there was a moment of confusion in her eyes as she looked at the two of them.

"I... do I know you boys?"

"Y-you're Saotome Nodoka?" RanmaB asked, though RanmaA knew he didn't really have to ask. The similarity of appearances with girl mode answered it well enough.

"Yes, that's me?" she replied, still obviously confused.

"And... and your husband's Genma?" RanmaB asked, a smile growing across his face. "With a son named Ranma?"

"Yes?"

The excited boy hopped over the lot wall and hugged a deeply confused Nodoka.

"Mom!"

"Ranma? I... you look so handsome! What are you doing here though? Your father's postcard from last week said you were training in Vietnam?" Nodoka asked.

"What? I've never been to Vietnam?" RanmaB replied, utterly confused.

"You haven't? But... wait, and who is the other boy? He looks just like you. I know I only had one son. Are you a cousin, maybe?" Nodoka asked.

"Altogether we've got a really long story," RanmaA said.

* * *

Knowing that Nodoka could potentially accept the curse, the pair of boys had decided to bring that up fairly quickly. They also felt it was important to explain Genma's schemes to get Ranma married to a Tendo boy, and why Shampoo was chasing him. Yukiyo they explained as a childhood sweetheart, and a girl who could accept RanmaB despite the curse. They also brought up Kodachi, to prove that he had plenty of luck with girls even with everything else.

RanmaA's presence was explained more quickly, though they made sure to mention how he'd managed to prove his manhood to his mother, and so were sure Nodoka could accept RanmaB.

"That's quite the story. I can see why your father has been sending false postcards. But, bringing everything up so directly; it's very brave and respectable of you," Nodoka said at long last.

"I know it might take a while to prove my masculinity fully to you, but... I hope you'll give me a chance to try?" RanmaB said, his readiness to flee being visible in his body language.

"Of course I will, Ranma," Nodoka said with a soft tone. "Now, I do remember you saying that this Shampoo boy was from a matriarchal society, yes?"

"Matr-oh, right! Yeah, his great grandmother's the head of his family and all that," RanmaB replied.

"I wonder if he might listen to a mother's complaint more than a father's. I don't exactly have plans for today, so what do you say we go pay him a visit? And then your father," Nodoka said, her tone growing a bit dark when the subject switched to Genma.

* * *

Both Ranmas felt nervous as they approached the Neko Hanten with Nodoka. RanmaB stepped forward and slid open the door to the restaurant.

"Hello? Is Shampoo around?" RanmaB called out.

The door to the kitchen burst open as this world's handsome and male Shampoo appeared, rushing over, but not actually pulling either Ranma into a bear hug for the moment.

"Which of you is which?" the boy asked.

"The one to my left is my son, the other is the visiting Ranma," Nodoka replied.

"Thank yo-wait, your son? You are Ranma's mother?" Shampoo asked, blushing slightly as he froze midway through going to hug RanmaB.

Nodoka nodded. "I am indeed, and I would like to see if I can do something about your little marriage scheme."

"I-I will get great grandmother," the boy replied, hurrying off to the kitchen.

A couple moments later he reemerged with the ancient woman pogoing along behind him. Cologne quickly took the lead to give Nodoka a once over.

"I can certainly see the family resemblance," the old woman said. "What may I do for you?"

"I would like to discuss doing something about this engagement nonsense," Nodoka stated flatly. "My son informed me that your great grandson is bound to marry any girl who defeats him. But my son is a boy, he simply has a curse."

Cologne gave them a smirk. "The child has more than one fiancé. Between that and the curse, it's enough for Ranma to count as a woman under Joketsuzoku law."

"I plan to deal with the Tendo arrangement as well," Nodoka replied flatly.

Cologne raised an eyebrow. "Well, that is an interesting idea. If you can convince Ranma's oaf of a father on something, then Shampoo might just relinquish his claim."

"What? Never," Shampoo replied, crossing his arms and pouting. "I love Ranma."

"I'm pretty sure you just like the excuse to get out of marrying Mousse," RanmaB muttered.

"Either way, I said might. We'd also need Ranma to attempt a certain test to prove a lack of femininity," Cologne replied.

"I'll ace any test ya give me," RanmaB replied with a smirk.

"I'm sure you will," Cologne replied with a smirk of her own.

"Well, thank you for being relatively reasonable. That should be enough for now. Thank you for your time," Nodoka said with a curt bow.

* * *

Both Ranmas felt themselves grow nervous as rain began to fall on them on the way to the Tendo Dojo. Nodoka had said she was fine with the curse in theory, but in practice? That hadn't been tested yet.

Seeing Nodoka stop, both cursed boys stopped as well, trying to remember to keep breathing. Nodoka's eyes studied them both, and they felt their hearts begin to race.

"Oh my. You both look so adorable. I... oh, but that's not the right train of thought for you boys. I'm sorry," Nodoka said with a bow, before hurrying forward, muttering something nervously to herself.

The pair of redheads watched her in confusion a moment as she kept moving forward.

"Does that mean she wants me ta dress cute?" RanmaB whispered.

"I dunno. My ma liked dressin' me up before she found out who I was. So, maybe knowin' who you are from the start will change things?" RanmaA whispered back. "Careful though."

"Yeah, I'll be careful," the other redhead replied, before the pair hurried after Nodoka.

* * *

Genma was sweating furiously as Nodoka and both Ranmas (still in girl mode) sat across from him. He was not ready for what was pretty well three versions of the same face judging him.

"So, husband. Please explain why you were sending me fake postcards from foreign nations while in Tokyo? And try to explain this engagement issue?"

"Ah, well, uh... uh... I wasn't sure you'd, um..." the part-time panda muttered, eyes sliding to a thousand metre stare.

"You knew ma wouldn't approve, that's why you sent the postcards, ain't it?" RanmaB said.

"Yeah, that's... wait, no," Genma replied, visibly realising what he was starting to agree to. "There's no good way to get out of this, is there?"

"No," Nodoka replied flatly, with both Ranma's shaking their heads.

"I just... I wanted to fulfill an old promise I made to Soun," Genma said quietly. "We promised one another that we'd have our children marry if it was possible."

"And you planned to just hide this from me permanently?" Nodoka asked. "And just disregard that contract you wrote up?"

"W-well, no. The contract just said I should come back with a manly son. I planned to ensure Natsuo would be a worthy son by the time the marriage had occurred, and I'd be ready to bring them to you," a sweaty Genma replied.

Nodoka gave him a lidded glare. "Despite Ranma's objections?"

"It's not like the child's completely against this," Genma muttered. "He spends lots of time with Natsuo. And he's rather soft with Yukiyo, so it's not like he's against being romantic with a gu—"

Both Ranma's had leapt across the table to cover Genma's mouth. The pair then began to laugh nervously, hoping Nodoka wouldn't try to enquire further.

"What was he going to say?" Nodoka asked.

"N-nothing," RanmaB said nervously.

"Lying to your mother isn't very honourable," Nodoka replied flatly.

Both Ranmas nervously removed their hands from Genma's mouth, RanmaB glaring at his exiled counterpart. RanmaA began to sweat, he'd not counted on Genma being the one to question Yukiyo's femininity. (And, honestly, had hoped to be gone before it became an issue.)

"Has he tried to tell you Yukiyo's a girl? That boy's feminine, sure, but not exactly wife material," Genma said, confidence growing as Nodoka's wrath transferred to someone else.

"We're going to go visit this Yukiyo," Nodoka declared flatly.

Both Ranmas swallowed nervously.

* * *

The four Saotomes approached Yucchan's, the two Ranma's feeling like their hearts were beating in their throats. Sliding the door open, the 'twins' tried to resist their urge to make a break for it.

"Hello!" the cute chef called out, smiling happily.

"That's Yukiyo?" Nodoka asked, turning to Genma.

"He's good with makeup," Genma muttered.

Nodoka raised an eyebrow, before turning to the chef. "Hello there, my name is Saotome Nodoka. I... I have a rather awkward question for you, out of concern for my son."

"Whatever you need, I'm happy to help with. I want what's best for my future husband," Yukiyo replied, smile not breaking at all.

Both Ranmas gave them apologetic looks.

"Well, you see... there are some questions about... well, about whether you're a girl or a boy?" Nodoka said with a blush.

"Oh. Well, I think that's easy to prove, I think. Would you like to come to the back? Just, so, well, it's girls only?" Yukiyo asked.

"Th-that sounds reasonable," Nodoka replied with a quick nod.

Both Ranma's watched in terror, and Genma watched in confusion, as Nodoka and Yukiyo headed to the back.

A few moments later, the three heard Yukiyo's voice: "Did you want me to get a kettle?"

"No, no," Nodoka's voice replied.

Curiosity getting the best of them, the three evesdroppers hurried forward. Before reaching the curtain, both Ranmas kicked Genma back, to protect Yukiyo's modesty.

"Oh, hey Ranchan... er, Ranchans," a topless Yukiyo said, showing over a very obviously feminine chest.

Both redheads found themselves blushing.

"I really must wonder what your father was talking about," Nodoka said, heading out to the front area.

RanmaB snuck back, while RanmaA watched the door to make sure both parents would be out of hearing range. When Nodoka reached Genma and pulled him out of the restaurant, RanmaA gave a thumbs up.

"How?" RanmaB whispered.

"Instant Jusenkyo and a little waterproof soap. Konatsu only just got back from Yokohama, so you had good timing," Yukiyo replied.

The local redhead nodded, before blushing a bit as he realised his eyes had fallen to Yukiyo's chest. "S-sorry."

"I've seen yours plenty of times," Yukiyo replied with a smirk. "Plus, yours are bigger, kind of makes me jealous."

The redhead's blush grew worse. "D-does this make us lesbians now?"

"Pfft, you're such a goofball," Yukiyo said. "We're only lesbians if you want to be a girl."

"R-right," RanmaB muttered.

"Mhm, I'm not sure mom would quite approve of that," the exiled Ranma said with a smirk.

His local counterpart nodded nervously. "Yeah. Probably not. But, Yukiyo, thank you for doing all this."

"Hey, I didn't just do it for you. I've been curious for a while, you just finally gave me the excuse to actually spend the money," the chef replied.

* * *

Genma had called Soun home from work early, and, to the visiting Ranma's surprise, Soun was actually quite ready to argue. It seemed to the exiled boy that Soun had gone for a colder and harder approach to life, apparently feeling a need to set a different example for sons than for daughters. Still, in the end, Nodoka won the argument, to RanmaB's relief.

Full of relief, the local boy dragged RanmaA off to the dojo for some sparring. After a bit of warming up, the pair found themselves being watched by Nodoka, who was quite impressed by their martial arts prowess. RanmaB got quite into showing off to his mother, and the two boys rather lost track of time with their martial arts display.

That left them both surprised when Natsuo appeared at the dojo door, glaring at both Ranma's.

"So I wasn't even worth telling about the plan first?" the brown haired boy asked, his voice strained. "I thought I was at least a friend to you, Ranma."

"Wha-Natsuo, what are you talking about?" RanmaB asked.

"You're a jerk," Natsuo replied, before storming off.

RanmaB nervously looked to his mother and his exiled counterpart.

"I, uh... I think I've gotta go talk to him. I'll just be a moment," the local boy replied, before running after his former fiance. "Natsuo! Wait up!"

The exiled Ranma felt surprised at the emotion in the other Ranma's voice. He then felt Nodoka's eyes land on him, and couldn't help sweating a little.

"That was more charged than I expected. Are those two actually close?" she asked.

"To be honest, I only got here yesterday," RanmaA said. "I knew Natsuo liked him, but... I don't think it's both ways?"

Nodoka nodded, looking like she'd grown lost in thought.

* * *

The next couple days were a bit less eventful than the first two. Tensions remained high between Natsuo and both Ranmas, but it was a cold tension. That felt very alien to the exiled teen, used to being the target of Akane's hot anger.

Thinking of Akane though, RanmaA was also finding his thoughts wandering to Kaneda quite often. While the young Tendo brother was definitely a guy, his similarities to Akane were difficult to deny. He had the same temper, and need for recognition. It gave RanmaA an idea, and so, one evening, he snuck up and knocked on Kaneda's door.

"Hello?" the young Tendo boy asked as he opened the door.

"Hey, uh... I was wonderin' if I could talk to ya about some stuff?" RanmaA asked.

"Uh, sure?" Kaneda replied, walking back to his desk. "You can sit on the bed, I guess?"

RanmaA nodded, closing the door behind him as he walked in. After sitting down, he found himself a bit nervous to talk for a moment.

"So, what's up?" Kaneda said, having sat down at the chair by his desk.

"I... well... I'm not great at talkin' ta girls. Especially girls I kinda like. So... uh, I kinda put my foot in my mouth when talkin' to Akane back home. But, you're a guy, so... I thought maybe I could try talking to you? Like, ask some big questions to you?" RanmaA asked.

"Uh, I guess? I mean, I'm not Akane, and I've never met her. So I don't know what's different or the same," Kaneda replied.

"Yeah, yeah. I get that," RanmaA said. "But, might give me a good steppin' off point. Plus, Akane's such a tomboy, not sure the gap's too huge."

Kaneda gave him a flat stare. "Listen, I'm no girl, but I'm pretty sure girls don't like you questioning their femininity. I know I certainly don't like comments about my masculinity that the Kendo team get up to."

"Wait, you get comments about yer masculinity?" RanmaA asked.

"Yeah. Just because I happen to have a soft spot for cute animals..." Kaneda grumbled. "And an actual fashion sense."

"I think Akane likes fashion... do you think asking her for fashion advice would be good?"

Kaneda raised an eyebrow. "I... maybe? I guess she'd probably like cleaning your look up a bit. You've got a good build, and soft features not too far off from an idol... yeah, I think that would probably be something she'd like."

RanmaA nodded, just barely noticing the blush on the other boy's cheeks. Not knowing what to make of that, the exiled Ranma pressed on with his questions.

"D'you think trying to train her would go over well, even if she ends up havin' to suffer? I... I don't really get along great with pops 'cause of how he taught me, and I'm not sure I could teach someone in a way different enough from how I was taught," RanmaA asked.

"Probably? I... I might be able to help you with the training angle though? Natsuo and I spar with our Ranma plenty. We don't hate each other yet... well, at least not because of training together," Kaneda replied.

RanmaA lit up. "Yeah! I'd love ta train together. Thanks!"

This time RanmaA definitely noticed the blush on the other boy's cheeks.

"I, uh... I don't want ta pry, 'cause it's not really my business, but... after the last Akane fell in love with Ranko, I... uh... do you like guys at all?" RanmaA stammered, while Kaneda went fully red.

"What? No! I don't... er... um... well," the young Tendo boy rambled, before looking up at Ranma with sad brown eyes. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Oh, sure. Can do... but why not? Your borther's not exactly quiet about likin' guys?" RanmaA asked.

"He... he doesn't care what anyone else thinks about anything he does. I'm not quite as able to ignore that stuff," Kaneda confessed. "And, besides, he was a lot quieter about it before you-er, our Ranma showed up."

RanmaA nodded. "Well, I'll do my best ta keep quiet. Luckily I ain't here for too long, so it shouldn't be hard. I... I think I'm happy to hear it though? I kinda want to think that Akane back home like likes me in either form? It'd be weird to think of her thinkin' of me as 'just a gal friend' when I'm in girl mode. Does that make sense?"

"I suppose, but doesn't that imply you kind of want her to think of you as a girl? Wouldn't you rather she see you as a boy she liked, who just looked girlish sometimes?" Kaneda asked.

RanmaA opened his mouth, before realising he had no reply to that. "I... I dunno?"

Kaneda smiled. "Well, it felt good to admit things to someone. If you want to talk while you're here, I'm happy to lend an ear."

* * *

The pair of redheads were happily enjoying ice cream as they walked down the street. They had the evening free of anyone's influence, and had decided that grabbing a train Shibuya and then dressing up cute was a good use of their evening. RanmaB didn't know if he'd get another chance to do that anytime soon after all.

The exiled Ranma slowed down as they passed a drug store, something on display catching his eye.

"What's up?" the local 'twin' asked as he walked back over to the other cursed boy's side.

"They're havin' a big sale on Cezanne makeup," the exiled Ranma replied. "The Tendo's back home have so much a' that."

"Ooh. Yeah, that looks a bit less 'Friday night' than the stuff I've bought for disguises," RanmaB said. "Course, I can't really claim it's anyone else's... unless, maybe, I keep it at Yukiyo's?"

The other redhead was about to reply when someone stepped quite heavily on his foot.

"Ouch! Oy, watch where you're," the exiled boy began to complain, before he realised who it was (even with an unfurled map blocking their face). "Ryoga?"

The fanged boy in question lowered his map, blushing a bit. "S-sorry miss. I don't know Nagoya very well, so I was a bit distracted with trying to get my bearings."

"You're in Tokyo, ya dork," the local Ranma replied.

"I am? Ah, that would explain why I was so lost with this map," Ryoga replied, "You know, you two remind me of a friend of mine."

"Seriously, Ryoga? I'm not even in a disguise," RanmaB sighed.

"Wait... Ranma? But then, who's she? Do you have a sister?" Ryoga asked.

The exiled boy raised his wrist and gave Ryoga the quick rundown of how the exile worked. This then caused questions of what sort of chaos a second Ranma had led to, and discussions about Nodoka followed. Which it turn saw them discuss Yukiyo's save (and how the chef was still rationing waterproof soap happily).

"Wait, so now there's two of you with girl modes and Yukiyo's totally a girl?" Ryoga asked, a bit of sadness in his voice.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous," RanmaA said.

"Oh, he is. Idiot has this scheme that he could use Jusenkyo water to win over Kaneda," RanmaB explained.

"It's not an idiot scheme," Ryoga snapped. "You just flit back and forth too much. I'm sure that showing I'd be willing to be a girl for him would counter balance my being born a guy."

"You'd be a guy tryin' to play a part for the rest of your life, dork. It wouldn't make you really a girl any more than it makes you really a pig," RanmaB countered.

"Wait, wait... Ryoga, you like Kaneda?" RanmaA asked, still not quite registering that.

The fanged boy blushed. "Y-yeah. I mean... he's just so kind and sweet. He took me in. Pretty well everyone else sees my pig mode as food... but Kaneda, he didn't just give me food, he went out and bought books on how to look after pigs and... and I fell in love with him at some point. It took me close to a year to accept it, but now I know, and so I'm trying to get my hands on Nyannichuan magic."

RanmaA opened his mouth, excited to share good news with Ryoga, when he remembered he'd promised not to tell. Confused about what to do, he scrunched up his face in thought.

"What's up?" RanmaB asked, leaning into the other's personal space.

"I, uh... maybe Yukiyo bought more than one packet?" the exiled Ranma offered, hoping to deflect attention.

"Oh, maybe! I mean, it is Yukiyo, so there's probably no more money spent than absolutely necessary, but at the very least we can find out where to buy some. How's that sound, muscles?" RanmaB asked.

"Are you sure the Nyannichuan doesn't turn you into a girl mentally too?" Ryoga asked. "Because you two seem pretty girly."

RanmaB blushed while pouting. "It wasn't Jusenkyo... Ma's been showin' off some photo albums, and... well... apparently I did a little dress up back then too. Apparently pops didn't approve. And then Yukiyo thought I was a girl for a reason..."

"Wait, what? I gotta go look at those albums," RanmaA said. "The ones back home kinds of blown up."

* * *

Yukiyo's was fairly quiet when the trio arrived, it being a Tuesday and everything. The chef lit up as both Ranma's entered.

"If it isn't my favourite boys... and Ryoga. I, er... no offence, Hibiki, you're cool enough too. Just, not Ranchan," Yukiyo said waving them over. "So what can I get for you b'ys?"

"Uh, well, we were wondering if you had more than one packet of instant Nyannichuan?" RanmaB asked. "If you do, we'd be open to buying it."

The chef raised an eyebrow. "I'll guess it's for Hibiki?"

"Y-yeah," Ryoga replied. "How did you know?"

Yukiyo nodded sagely. "Apart from both Ranmas having Nyannichuan curses already, your crush on Kaneda's about as subtle as a brick. Of course, that's your usual modus operandi, ain't it?"

Ryoga blushed and nodded.

"You three do know that Kaneda's seriously gay though, right?" Yukiyo asked.

The local pair stared in confusion, while the exiled boy blurted something against his better judgment.

"How did you-" was what got out before RanmaA stopped himself.

Yukiyo gave them all a grin. "Ranchan, you're usually too busy being nervous around Shampoo to notice, but Kaneda's surely got that boy's buttocks memorised by now. And biceps. Oh, and the one time I saw him accidentally get some hot water on a certain little tomcat... you would not believe his blush."

Yukiyo burst into laughter, while RanmaB continued to stare confused.

"W-wait, so he's got a crush on Shampoo? Oh man... I'm not sure I can compete. Shampoo's just so... so clean and polished. I mean, he's a cat and I'm a pig," Ryoga stammered.

Yukiyo's expression softened a bit. "Hibiki, you're not really a pig. And it just means he thinks Shampoo's hot, not that he has a crush. If anything, it's good news for you. You're about the only one around here who's more of a hunk than Shampoo is. So, as long as he doesn't mind you being a bit on the short side, I think you're fine."

Ryoga's worry shifted to a wide grin. "R-really? Huzzah, I'm heading straight to the dojo!"

With that, he turned around, hurrying out the door, before taking a left turn.

The other three watched him going, sighing a little.

"It's fifty fifty... how does he always get it wrong?" Yukiyo asked.

"He's Ryoga," RanmaB replied, before he and the other redhead rushed out after the lost boy.

Luckily, he'd only gotten about a block and a half, so they managed to get him back on course easily enough.

* * *

Kaneda was in the dojo, a fact made obvious by the sound of breaking concrete and aggressive yells. RanmaA had to admit that he felt a little of the fluster on Ryoga's face as the approached. That wasn't Akane, but the interdimensional twins had enough in common to still get to the exiled Ranma a bit.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh... can I do this?" Ryoga asked, turning to both Ranmas.

The redheads smiled and nudged him forward.

"You never know till you try," RanmaB offered, continuing to nudge.

"Give him those big puppy eyes, I'm sure it'll work," RanmaA added, sliding the door open.

The two cursed boys then shoved him into the dojo (not an easy feet, considering Ryoga's solid build). They watched him stumble forward, and couldn't help but smirk as he half fell into the arms of a rather confused Kaneda. The redheads both gave Kaneda a thumbs up before closing the door.

The twin Ranmas then headed off to the kitchen, hunting for snacks.

* * *

Amazingly, that 'subtle' nudge had actually worked out. As both Ranmas sat in the living room, munching on chips and watching anime, a blushing Kaneda walked in with P-chan in his arms. He sat down beside the exiled Ranma, quietly scritching the piglet behind the ear.

"He changed?" RanmaB asked, leaning across the other boy (they'd both changed back themselves in preparation for more of the household coming home soon).

"Well, he said he had one last thing to show me, to make sure everything was honest, and... there's not exactly a kettle in the dojo," Kaneda replied.

* * *

The next evening, RanmaA was trying to help his counterpart with homework when Natsuo knocked on the open door and let himself in. He had a small bag over one shoulder that briefly reminded the exiled teen of a purse, though it seemed a bit more utilitarian.

"So... Kaneda told me what you two did yesterday," the brown haired lad said, closing the door behind him. "I doubt dad'll be very happy, but... thanks for looking out for my little bro. Boy's hopeless on his own. And, Saotome, I'm sure it was extra weird for you, considering your situation back home, so... I think I've got something for you. Even if I don't get a happy ending out of all this, I want to help you with your little travel issue."

The exiled Ranma tilted his head in confusion. "Help out how?"

Natsuo swung his back around, opening it in the process to pull out a rather clunky looking camera.

"It's a polaroid. You can take pictures and it develops them on it's own. I figure some photos of parallel universes would be good keepsakes, and useful if anyone doesn't believe you. And who knows if you'd have access to somewhere to develop film reliably?," Natsuo explained.

"Okay, there's got to be a catch, because that thing can't be cheap," RanmaA said.

"No catch. I bought it on a whim, thinking it might be fun, but... the picture quality is a bit low for someone with a more artistic interest, like myself," Natsuo replied.

"Wait... is that the camera you bought in middle school?" RanmaB asked.

Natsuo blushed a little. "I... yeah. So it's kind of got some bad memories."

"What happened?" RanmaA asked, feeling very lost.

"I... uh, maybe thought taking pictures of cute girls would be a fun hobby. And a couple of cute boys... but then dad caught me. He got majorly ticked. Took the cameras away for a month, grounded me for about three months, lectured me for three hours... all the fun stuff" Natsuo admitted.

"Of course, then he'd bought so much camera stuff around he couldn't bare not to use it. So went for landscape photography after," RanmaB explained. "Still gets nervous when his club is doing portraits."

"Dad's demon head thing is scary when you're a 12 year old, okay?" Natsuo grumbled.

"Huh... I wonder if Nabiki got away with her more personal photography because a girl taking pictures of boys is less controversial?" RanmaA said, half to himself.

"That sounds plausible," Natsuo replied. "And a girl taking pictures of girls would definitely be less of an issue than a boy taking pictures of boys. Society and it's weird double standards..."

Both Ranmas winced.

"Ooh yeah," RanmaB said, before giving Natsuo a guilty looking. "Sorry."

RanmaA couldn't help feel like he was missing something.

* * *

He was pushing the 2 week mark, and RanmaA couldn't help but feel a bit sad about his departure that was coming up. Just like with Ranko, he felt like this Ranma was a sibling he'd suddenly been given. The idea of having to leave him behind, and future counterparts, wasn't a fun concept.

Quietly, he studied the polaroid pictures in the small album Nodoka had given him. He managed to get the three Tendo boys together. The picture of Shampoo was a bit blurry, as the boy had been running his way for a hug when RanmaA took the picture, but worked well enough. Yukiyo and Konatsu had posed proudly outside their restaurant. He'd had Natsuo take a picture of him and the local Ranma for proof that they were separate people in future. He also had copies of all of Nodoka's favourite pictures from her albums, made when she found out his own mother had lost her photo albums. He felt a little strange about the picture of Ryoga and Kaneda watching a sunset together, his gut mixing confused jealousy with the joy of having helped them get together (and thinking he'd done a pretty good job on the composition).

He felt someone sit beside him, and turned to see Natsuo beside him.

"You look like you already miss us," the Tendo boy said.

"I think the waitin' ta say goodbye is worse than actually sayin' goodbye sometimes," RanmaA replied. "But the fact that I'll never properly see any of you again... and that I'll see versions of ya wherever I go... it's so... I don't know if I've got words for it."

"It's a weird sensation, I'll agree. I mean, I'm going to have my Ranma still, and you're both so alike... I don't know if I'll miss you as much as I should. Sorry," Natsuo replied.

"Nah, that's totally fair," RanmaA replied. "And, sorry 'bout messing up things for you and this Ranma."

Natsuo gave him a smile. "Oh, it might not be as messed up as you think. I'm working on a solution."

RanmaA raised an eyebrow. "Be careful with that. Ma might not respond well."

"I'm very cautious, that's my nature," Natsuo replied.

RanmaA started to reply when his bracelet began to glow. "Oh dang. I thought I had another day! I gotta get all my stuff."

Running around in a panic, he grabbed his backpack, shoved in the clothes Ranko had given him, as well as a couple outfits RanmaB had given him. He then grabbed the polaroid camera and photo album.

"Phew, I think I've got everything," RanmaA said, as the members of the household began to gather.

"Well, I hope your next universe is good," RanmaB said.

"Yeah, me—" the burst of green flame cut off the exiled boy yet again.


	4. Chapter 3: The Twins

**Chapter 3: Twins**

RanmaA found himself falling onto his rear in an empty lot, the sounds of animals fighting reaching his ears from somewhere behind him. Turning, he spotted a familiar bespectacled duck tussling with two small red and black creatures. After a moment he realised they were red pandas, which he certainly didn't expect to see in Tokyo.

The two red pandas stopped and stared at Ranma for a few seconds, before the duck attacked them and had to be brought down into a pin by the duo. The redder of the two fuzzy things then grabbed the duck's head and made Mousse look at RanmaA.

Amazingly (considering it was Mousse), the duck realised who he was looking at, and looked over at the more black coloured of the red pandas, and then back between Ranma and the darker red panda a few times, looking more confused each time.

"Wait, you're me?" RanmaA asked, pointing at the darker red panda.

The furry creature nodded.

"Wow. That's gotta be the cutest Jusenkyo curse... uh, no offense or nothin'," RanmaA said, before turning to the redder one, a little confused. "Wait, though... don't tell me _you're_ pops?"

A flurry of angry animal noises flew out from the small creature, yelling at RanmaA for a bit before turning to the other red panda and yelling at him as well. That lead to a counter argument of red panda noises, and soon enough the two little red pandas were a noisy tussling ball of fur rolling around the lot. Mousse let out a few amused quacks before flying off, leaving RanmaA with the wrestling small mammals.

"I guess the only way ta find out who you are is to get some hot water," the exiled boy said, hopping to his feet and then grabbing both red pandas by the scruff.

He then set off towards where he assumed the Tendo Dojo would be, after taking a moment to get his bearings.

"I guess I'll explain how I'm here while we walk?" RanmaA said, mostly to the one that was apparently the local Ranma.

The red pandas nodded enthusiastically, and Ranma began the short introduction. Both red pandas seemed to have questions, though he couldn't understand them in the slightest, just getting squeaking noises.

Luckily the dojo came into view a few moments later, and both red pandas lept from RanmaA's arms and sprinted off towards the Tendo home. The exiled lad chased after them, rushing into the house, and past a confused Kasumi.

The trio soon reached the furo, which was thankfully empty as the two red pandas ran ahead and leapt into the hot water in the tub. A moment later RanmaA was greeted by RanmaC and... his girl mode?

"Why the heck did you assume I'd be pops!?" the redhead shouted.

"Wha-what?" RanmaA stammered, confused to see both his girl and boy mode beside each other.

"I mean, it's a funny way to tease you," RanmaC said leaning in close to the girl and sticking his tongue out.

The redhead responded by yanking on his nose.

"Ow!" RanmaC blurted.

"Why are there two of m-us—you!?" RanmaA blurted.

The other two stopped their bickering to stare at him.

"What do you mean—" RanmaC started.

"—two of us?" the redhead finished.

"Did ya get split and then cursed a second time, or... what happened?" RanmaA asked.

"Split?" the local Ranma said, turning to the girl beside him.

"I mean, didn't doc Tofu say that we're 'semi-identical' twins? So... I think he said we sorta split at one point?" she replied.

"Wait, you're twins?" RanmaA asked.

"Yes?" the twins said in unison, both their heads cocking to the side in curiosity with almost unsettling synchronicity.

"Wait, are you an only child then?" RanmaC asked.

"Yeah. And so were the versions a' me in the last two universes I went to," RanmaA replied.

Suddenly the redhead began to blush and she slipped behind her brother. "You should've said something before looking at me naked!"

"What?" RanmaA asked, confused. "Wait, I didn't even know who you were before ya hopped in the tub and changed. How could I say somethin'?"

"He has a point there," RanmaC added. "Besides, why are you embarrassed to have him see you naked when he's basically me?"

"He's still a boy who ain't seen me naked before," the sister protested, pinching RanmaC's cheek.

"Uhh... I kind of have though," RanmaA replied, feeling a bit self conscious.

When both twins stared at him in confusion the exiled boy decided it was best to show them, and took a couple steps over to turn the shower head on with a blast of cold water.

Now a redhead himself, RanmaA turned with a nervous grin. "I think we're pretty well identical now."

Curiosity overtaking modesty, the local redhead scrambled out of the tub and marched over to begin checking RanmaA's face carefully, pulling a bit too hard at times. As well as poking his chest.

"Satisfied?" the exiled boy asked, lightly rubbing an ear that she'd yanked on for unclear reasons.

"For now."

"Wait, so... if he doesn't have a sister, you probably need to introduce yourself, sis," RanmaC said, having slid up to sit on the edge of the tub.

"Right, good thinking!" she said to her brother with a grin before turning back to RanmA. "The names Akako. Saotome Akako... though you probably knew the Saotome part..."

"Akako? Huh... I was expectin' another Ranko," RanmaA replied.

"Ranko?" the twins asked in unison.

"First universe I fell in, just had her as a girl with a boy curse, no siblings... I had been kinda just thinking of her as me if I'd been a girl, but if you two are separate people... but Cologne said it drew me to the 'me' of each world..." RanmaA muttered, growing more and more lost in thought and barely understood concepts on the philosophy of 'self'.

Just then the door opened, revealing all three Tendo sisters, Akane in the lead with a quarterstaff, Kasumi looking nervous behind her, and Nabiki there with a camera ready.

"Okay, what's with the doppelganger?" Akane asked.

"Give a guy some privacy!" RanmaC blurted, slipping back into the tub for a bit of modesty.

"Very sorry, but this seemed like a potential emergency... why is it Akako now?" Kasumi said. "She was definitely Ranma before."

"I'm a guy with a girl curse," RanmaA replied. "I... uh, I'm from another universe. And, er, I've got some pictures and can tell ya all about what's happened so far? Also, I ain't so fond of bein' called an 'it'."

"A parallel universe?" Akane said, sounding more tired than surprised.

"Oh my. I'm sorry... Are you recruiting alternate versions of yourself to defeat some powerful enemy?" Kasumi asked.

"Uh... no?" RanmaA replied, not sure how to respond to that. "The old creep stuck this exile bracelet thingy on my wrist and now I can't go home until he forgives me for somethin' petty or kicks the bucket."

"What old creep?" Akane asked, slipping back into a defensive stance.

"Pops and uncle Soun's master?" RanmaA offered, still getting confused stares from everyone. "He ain't showed up at all?"

"Not that I know of," Nabiki said.

"Phew... you guys are lucky," RanmaA said. "Especially the girls."

"Okay, so... now that we've established this isn't an emergency... can I have that privacy _now_?" RanmaC asked, still trying to stay hidden in the tub.

"Oh! Oh right, sorry," Akane blurted, blushing before she pushed her sisters back out of the bathroom.

With the Tendo girls gone, the twins gathered up some clothes, and then followed. The three arrived at the living room a few moments later, and the exiled boy found himself giving a rundown of his own world.

To his surprise, apparently RanmaC and Akako's training journey had been less absolute. The pair were inseparable, and Nodoka had refused to let Genma take their daughter away from all feminine influence (Ranma could only assume Ranko's lack of a brother had gotten that Genma more leeway on training schemes).

As a result, the twins had returned home for the major holidays. RanmaA wasn't overly surprised to learn that they'd managed to run into Ryoga, but was a bit surprised by the face that Akako made when he was brought up.

"You're not a fan of Ryoga?" RanmaA asked. "I'd have guessed you'd have some sorta romance or somethin' after Ranko..."

Akako's face scrunched up. "I have zero interest in guys. _Especially_ Ryoga. Despite his constant efforts to ask me out. Or maybe because of them."

"Mhm, poor Ryoga, chasing after an impossible goal," RanmaC added, laughing a bit after he said it, though it sounded a little hollow somehow. "Fits his sense of direction."

"Still want to kill him for that koi rod incident," Akako muttered, her eyes going cold.

"Oh gods, the koi rod," RanmaA added. "Wait, but he got you? W-what did he do? I mean, he didn't _mean_ to get me, so that kept me safe, but you... if he wanted..."

"Luckily: nothing happened," RanmaC said. "I knew something was odd pretty quick with sis smiling at the pig how she did, so I followed her closely from there on out. Wanted to know what she was doing. He ended up holding her hand a bit, took her out to get crepes, then tried to go somewhere romantic and secluded to try to have a first kiss... but, well... apparently the koi rod made her a bit impatient, and it ended in Ryoga passing out from blood loss."

Akako shivered, getting a hug from Akane.

"Impatient isn't quite the word. 'Feral' might be better... I was... I wanted to..." Akako muttered, her eyes growing distant.

"It's weird you remember it. Maybe... maybe it's because I was in cursed mode so much, the magic got mixed around," RanmaA muttered, before shivering. "But, uh... from what my Akane says back home, it hit me about as strong."

Suddenly RanmaC hopped to his feet and clapped his hands together. "Whaddya'll say to some sparring?"

"Huh?" RanmaA replied, not sure where the idea came from.

"Well, from the sounds of things, your pops put you through worse than ours could have ever gotten away with. So... I want to see how I compare to ya," RanmaC said.

"Sparring sounds like good stress relief to me," Akako added.

"I mean, sure?" RanmaA replied, hopping to his feet as well.

He followed the other two on the well worn path out to the dojo, Akane tagging along as well. Sparring against the local Ranma went pretty well. The other version of him wasn't bad, but he seemed like he was just a bit behind RanmaA's skill level. The biggest difference was his situational awareness, which the exiled boy put down to his being used to fighting with Akako at his side, leading to him being used to having an extra set of eyes on his side.

Fighting Akako followed, the exiled boy switching over to girl mode as he was still a little uneasy about sparring with girls in his birth form. And he felt the reach advantage would make the match unfair.

It turned out the match was unfair from a rather different angle. RanmaA barely managed to touch Akako, while she seemed able to read his every move. He was generally quick enough to figure out her feints, but... they were good. So some things got through...

Lying on the ground in a daze after she'd smacked him with a rather rough roundhouse he felt rather annoyed by her giggling.

"How are you _that_ much better than me?" the exiled boy asked as he sat up.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I'm not really better than you. I'm just better at fighting _you_ than you are are fighting me," Akako replied.

"Huh? How does-oh! Because your brother basically fights like me," RanmaA said, getting back to his feet.

"Mhm. I fight him at least once a day," Akako said, getting a 'pfft' out of Akane. "Okay, at least five times a day... but usually only one serious sparring session. So, even though you could beat him, he'd probably do better against me than you did."

"I'd _definitely_ do better against you than he did," RanmaC replied, crossing his arms to pout.

"I shoulda trained against Ranko more," RanmaA muttered. "Well, I ain't gonna give this opportunity up. We're definitely sparrin' every day, Akako."

"Sounds good, the easy wins will be good for my ego," the natural redhead replied with a mischievous grin.

"We'll see how long they stay easy for," the exiled boy replied, eyes narrowing.

"What do you say we calm things down a bit with a little ice cream?" Akane offered, slipping between the redheads.

"Oh, that does sound good!" RanmaA said.

"Last one to the parlour's a rotten egg!" Akako declaring, taking off into the yard.

* * *

The exiled Ranma watched in confusion as the local Ranma, as male as always, sat across from him with a chocolate parfait and began to eat.

"W-what are you doin'?" RanmaA asked, pointing his spoon at RanmaC's ice cream.

"Eating my parfait?" the other boy replied.

"But... but your a guy?"

As soon as he'd said it RanmaA realised that Akane and Akako were now staring at him and felt a little self conscious.

"You're a guy too?" Akane said.

"I... but I'm in girl mode right now. So... I get certain perks," RanmaA explained, feeling flustered.

"Wait... does that mean you buy into pop's nonsense about guys not eatin' ice cream?" Akako asked.

"If you've got a problem with me eating ice cream than sis and I would be happy to hear your complaints... _outside_ ," RanmaC added. "Winner takes all... of the ice cream."

RanmaA looked back and forth between the twins for a moment, when his worry about a serious fight suddenly shifted into something quite different.

"You guys really stood up for each other, didn't ya?" RanmaA asked, a smile growing across his face.

The twins blinked.

"Well, yeah, Pops was a jerk-" Akako began.

"-who always tried to pit us against each other. So we had to team up," RanmaC continued.

"Especially when it came to any things Ranma did that he thought were 'girly'," Akako added.

"Or when he was trying to steal our food," RanmaC added.

RanmaA smiled. "Meeting other me's in the last two universes... we'd end up bonding so fast... you two are really lucky to have just had that growin' up."

"Eh, there's drawbacks too," RanmaC replied. "Like _someone_ tryin' ta steal my fiance."

Akako stuck her tongue. "I'm the eldest, and she likes me better anyway."

"No she doesn't... right Akane?" RanmaC asked, turning to the girl in question.

Akane was, for her part, blushing and studying her banana split. "I, well..."

"She clearly doesn't want to hurt your feelings, little brother, but we hang out loads. Going to onsen, playing tennis, shopping... you name it," Akako replied confidently.

"If she likes you so much then why's she _my_ fiancee?" RanmaC countered.

He got a maraschino cherry to the nose for that. A rolled wafer bounced off Akako's head in retaliation. Then spoonfuls of ice cream began flying, until enough had melted to result into both twins switching to cursed form and suddenly there were two red pandas scuffling on the table, forcing RanmaA and Akane to both pull their ice creams back to safety.

The pair of red pandas ended up rolling off the table, knocking over chairs as they tussled. Worried they were going to get kicked out, RanmaA wolfed his parfait down in one go. The redhead then hopped to his feet and began to chase after the twins as various patrons yelped in surprise at the furry animals battling at their feet.

"Are they always like this?" RanmaA asked Akane as she caught up.

"More or less?" Akane replied. "They might be trying to show off to you a little."

* * *

RanmaA found himself in the bath again, sitting between the twins who were both pouting.

"So..." the exiled boy said, not sure how to approach the issue that started the fight.

"We're usually on the same side," the local boy said, slipping back to relax in the water. "Both wanting to date Akane is the first major conflict we've had."

"Being against each other isn't fun... neither of us is good at giving up a fight," Akako added, as she too slipped back to soak.

RanmaA nodded and decided to join both of them in getting comfortable in the tub. "Well, what about Shampoo or Ucchan? I mean... ya can't both marry Akane."

"Shampoo still half wants to kill me," Akako said.

"Yeah, I can't forgive her for that," RanmaC added.

"Which I appreciate, considering how hot she is," Akako said, bringing a hand to her heart. "As for Ucchan... I dunno. She's a pal, but past that?"

"Mhm, I feel bad saying it, but... yeah," RanmaC continued.

"Yeah, that's basically the same for me," RanmaA said.

There was a bit of silence as he tried to come up with any solutions. Nothing was coming to mind though.

"I don't really know how to fix any of your problems," he eventually admitted, which got stares from the twins. "I... uh, I sorta tried my best to fix problems in the last two universes. It was fun, but, maybe I won't always know how to help."

"Don't worry," Akako said. "I think you've helped me with some ideas."

"Me too," RanmaC added.

RanmaA had to admit that their grins were making him nervous.

* * *

The trio had ended up sharing a bedroom, Genma apparently spent most of his time back at the Saotome family home. The twins had been left at the Tendo home to keep Nodoka from finding out Genma had gotten them cursed at first, and now it was seen as a good way for RanmaC to spend more time with his fiancee. Akako was there because, well, you couldn't separate the twins.

Despite not living with the Tendos, Genma and Nodoka arrived early in the morning, wanting to find out about the newly arrived Ranma. He ended up spending most of the morning talking about the other universes he'd visited, pulling out his photo albums. To Ranma's surprise it proved to be a Sunday (he had sworn it should Wednesday... maybe the weeks weren't lining up right). That meant the whole household was gathered around for his stories. And to look at the pictures.

Nabiki had been quite happy with how handsome her male counterpart looked. Kasumi was a bit unsure what to make of it. The photos of Kaneda got the most reaction however, Akane blushing, RanmaC blushing and admitting that he was cute (which got grumbles from Genma), and Akako reluctantly admitted that he wasn't bad... for a guy. She admitted the same for Shampoo.

Nodoka had been quiet for most of the photo album tour, but now, with it wrapping up, she spoke.

"I can't believe three other versions of me missed out on so many life events," she said quietly.

"Well, we've all been tryin' to make up for it," RanmaA offered.

"Would you like to see some of the albums I've collected of Akako and my Ranma as they grew up?" Nodoka asked.

"Huh... that might be fun? Pops didn't really take many photos, so I ain't really got many pictures back home," RanmaA said.

* * *

The Saotome home of this world was similar enough on the surface to that of the last world, but a little more looking around showed a much greater collection of photos on the walls, crafts that the twins had made on the fridge or bookshelves, and... just generally more of a family feeling.

RanmaA found himself wandering the home a little as Nodoka dug out the photo albums. He knew how many bedrooms the home was supposed to have (both from the last world and his brief time there in his own world), but it still felt surprising to see the two beds in RanmaC and Akako's shared bedroom. He found himself trying to figure out which side of the bedroom belonged to which twin when the siblings in questioned appeared behind him.

"I kinda miss the beds here sometimes," RanmaC said.

"Which side belonged to which of ya?" RanmaA asked.

"Whoever got to the bed on the left first. That one's softer," Akako replied.

"Pretty much everything in here belongs to both of us. Except clothes, since those only fit one of us," RanmaC added.

"Eh, I like how oversized your shirts can be on me. Especially the sweaters," Akako said with a grin.

"Mhm, and you never return them, so I've always got to dig through your stuff," RanmaC muttered. "And then pops thought I had a weird interest in bras because you hid one of my hoodies in your underwear drawer. Got the weirdest rant from him about not falling to the dark side of the art or whatever."

"I said I was sorry about that," Akako replied, though she seemed to be struggling not to giggle.

"Anyhow, mum's found the albums, if ya want to come down and look?" RanmaC said, heading down.

RanmaA nodded, before giving the room another once over. The mix of toys now made more sense. Godzilla toys beside Barbie dolls beside toy cars... what RanmaA really felt envious about was the amount of toys though. He'd only had a few manga volumes that he could carry in his pack.

Heading down, RanmaA spent most of the rest of the afternoon going over photos from the twin's childhood. Both of them were embarrassed when Nodoka brought up their habit of dressing up as each other when they were little, and how they were convinced they could pass as the other despite wildly different hair colours.

Eventually, though, RanmaA found himself growing bored and ended up slipping off to the backyard to spar with the twins. Akako beat him pretty soundly once again, but he was sure he was starting to get a handle on her strategies more (and couldn't help admiring some of the ways she made up for being so short).

* * *

For Monday, everyone decided RanmaA should try heading to school. The month or so that he'd gone without any formal lessons concerned the local Nodoka.

Arriving early with Nabiki, Akane, and both the twins, the exiled boy headed off to the vice principal's office (everyone breathing a sigh of relief when the principal's office door declared he was recharging in the southern islands of Tokyo).

Opening the door to the vice principal's office, the man's face fell as he saw RanmaA.

"There's a third Saotome?" the man sighed. "I thought they were only twins..."

"He's just here temporarily, don't worry," Akako said.

"He's got this magic amulet that's send him into exile," RanmaC said, lifting up his exiled counterpart's wrist to show the bracelet there. "He's only gonna be here for, like, two weeks. Right?"

"Yeah," RanmaA replied.

"He's been drifting for about a month," Akane added. "We're worried about how far he might fall behind in school if he keeps not attending."

"Since it's such a short time, we were hoping he could avoid having to pay any tuition," Nabiki added.

"It's not really the best look for me to start letting students attend classes without paying their tuition," the man said, sounding tired.

"Well, I've already paid tuition to Furinkan High School for the year," RanmaA said. "Just mine back home."

The vice principal's eye twitched. "I... I don't even know how to process that. But... I guess I'll count that. They'll be the ones giving you your diploma, so... I'll pretend it makes sense."

"Thanks," all three Saotomes said in unison with large grins.

The trio then blinked and began to giggle.

"Well, what do you know, he's fitting in already," Nabiki said.

* * *

RanmaA stood in front of a room of familiar faces, all of whom recognised him. And yet they were all strangers too.

"Hello everyone. I'm only going to be here a couple weeks, but please take care of me," he said, bowing a bit.

"Do you have a curse too?" Sayuri asked.

"Uh, yeah?" he replied. "It's a _bit_ different though."

"Do you still have a sis—" Hiroshi began, before being interrupted by most of the class asking:

"What's your curse then?" (or some variation of that question)

"Uh... a girl curse," RanmaA offered.

 _Someone_ through a water bottle at him, resulting in a drenched redhead at the front of the class.

"Was that really necessary?" he shouted in the direction of the thrown water bottle's origin. "I figured my girl form's looks would be obvious."

"Are you changing with the guys?" Daisuke asked.

"If any of you splash him while he's changing—" RanmaC began.

"—We'll beat the snot out of ya," Akako finished.

"Honestly, I'll give them free reign to do that," Hinako sensei said, paying more attention to painting her nails than anything else.

* * *

School went well for the first week or so (though apparently a month had gotten him more behind than he'd expected). He found it interesting how much time Akako and RanmaC spent together. It seemed only Akane could separate them whenever she wanted to do something girly with Akako.

Still, RanmaA couldn't help but feel this was a calm before the storm.

A feeling that finally crested on Saturday.

He'd been sitting and watching some afternoon TV with Akane and Nabiki when RanmaC strolled in, his silk shirt unbuttoned to reveal the muscle shirt beneath, and his face looking determined.

"Akane... I've been thinking things over, and... I think Akako's right. You and her just get along better than you and I. I really should step out of the way and let you be together," the black haired teen said. "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused."

"P-pardon?" Akane asked.

"I... I can't talk about it. I know if you give me the chance to rethink it, I'll give in," the boy said, hurrying off and bounding across the yard and over the outside wall (with a surprising lightness, RanmaA noticed).

"Did... did I just get dumped?" Akane asked, turning to RanmaA.

"I don't really know?" the exiled boy replied.

"Akane," Akako's voice announced.

Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki turned to the redhead, noticing she looked just as determined as RanmaC had and dressed in one of her cuter dresses.

"I... I need to step out of the way. You and Ranma... er, our Ranma... you two are engaged and a proper couple and I need to stop interfering. I'm sorry for trying to complicate things," the redhead said. "Sorry 'bout that."

With that Akako hurried off, only... just like with RanmaC earlier, there was something off about her gate.

"They... they both dumped me," Akane muttered, her eyes looking slightly broken.

"Y'know... I'm not so sure," RanmaA said. "Akako's usually lighter on her feet than that... I think I know what's going on. Lemme see what's going on. I'm going to go chase down 'Akako'."

"I... okay," Akane said.

"I'll go hunt for the 'boy' too," Nabiki added.

RanmaA nodded and hurried off down towards the street. He had to catch up to that redhead...

* * *

It was a few blocks before the exiled boy spotted the redhead he was chasing after. The other Saotome was another block ahead or so, fussing with the skirt of the cute dress.

RanmaA was about to charge ahead when a familiar red umbrella caught his eye. He watched silently as the redhead (distracted by playing with the skirt) walked right into the lost boy.

"A-A-Akako!" Ryoga blurted. "I didn't... I didn't see you!"

"Ryoga?" the redhead asked, stepping back a few steps.

"I... I know I don't deserve the opportunity to apologise to you, but... I want to tell you that I'm sorry," Ryoga replied, studying his feet as he talked, until the last moment when he looked up with sad puppy eyes. "I was an idiot."

"Wait, I'm not—" the redhead began, though Ryoga seemed a bit too lost in his own thoughts to notice.

"I do want to say that I wasn't trying to 'fix' you or anything like that. I just... I just was so in love with you that I hoped I could be your one exception," Ryoga continued. "Though, that's prob—"

The redhead punched him in the face at that point.

"Listen ta somebody when he's talking to you, pig boy. And before you start confessing that you're in love to them," RanmaC shouted, a bit red in the face.

Ryoga blinked, not looking physically hurt by the punch so much as confused by it.

"Now then, since you're listening: I'm not Akako. I'm Ranma. I, uh... I used some instant Nyannichuan, for, uh... reasons," the redhead said, still blushing.

"Y-you're Ranma?" Ryoga asked.

"Yeah," RanmaC replied quietly.

"Wow... you did a really good job on your makeup," Ryoga said, leaning in to look at RanmaC's face.

"Th-thank you."

"I mean, it's not like it's hard to make _that_ face cute, but still," Ryoga said, still studying RanmaC's cursed face.

RanmaC's face turned beet red, and RanmaA swore he saw steam coming out of his ears.

"I think you broke him," RanmaA said, stepping up to the pair.

"I guess... wait, so, then you're Akako?" Ryoga asked.

"Nah, I'm another Ranma. Getting sent between universes by this dumb thing," RanmaA replied as he lifted his arm up to show off the cursed bracelet. "I've actually got a girl curse, which I think was where both the twins got their latest scheme."

"Huh... that sounds worse than my directional issues," Ryoga said. "Though, I guess I don't know 100% for sure I've never ended up in the wrong universe."

"D-don't flirt with me now!" RanmaC suddenly blurted. "You're just complimenting me because I look like Akako right now!"

"Flirt with you?" Ryoga asked. "But we're both guys?"

"Y-you're a jerk!" RanmaC shouted before storming off, bounding along rooftops.

RanmaA let out a soft sigh. He didn't want to have to chase his local counterpart across half of Tokyo.

"W-what's wrong with him?" Ryoga asked.

"I... I don't really know. But I'm going to go catch him. If you want to find Akako to apologise to her, then I suggest you try following me," RanmaA said, before bounding off after the redhead.

Luckily RanmaC hadn't made it too far, and they were able to chase after him fairly easily. The shorter legs helped the others catch up to him after only a few more blocks, RanmaA catching up on the roof of an apartment building and grabbing the redhead by the wrist.

"Why on earth are ya runnin' off?" RanmaA asked.

RanmaC opened his mouth for a moment, before Ryoga landed on the roof a couple metres away.

"Don't make me say it in front of him," RanmaC whispered.

"Say what?" RanmaA asked. "What's the—wait. You... do you like him?"

"Me?" Ryoga asked, sounding furiously confused.

RanmaC paled, before his eyes fell. "Yeah. Fine. I figured out I liked guys too in middle school when I was trying to talk to Akako about why she didn't. I ain't told anyone but her or mom though..."

"You... you like me?" Ryoga asked, his mouth hanging open in confusion.

"Don't act like you didn't know I liked you. I _tried_ telling you back in middle school," RanmaC muttered. "And don't give me those puppy eyes just because I look like sis right now!"

"Wait, but what about Akane?" RanmaA asked.

"What about Akane? I hope to marry her one day... but that doesn't mean having someone I've still got the last bits of a crush on look at me and compliment me like he's doin' now ain't gonna get a response outta me," RanmaC half shouted, breaking out of the wrist grip RanmaA had been holding him in. "I guess I'm just a sucker for soft and sad brown eyes."

"Okay, I don't know how to sort this out, but we're all going back to the dojo. Ryoga needs to apologise to Akako, and you need to apologise to Akane. And Akako needs to apologise to Akane too," RanmaA said, trying to keep his calm with the soul of ice. "And I need an advil or somethin'."

He just didn't know how to handle this level of emotional drama.

* * *

RanmaA had had to walk between Ryoga and the local Ranma the whole walk back to the dojo. RanmaC refused to look Ryoga's way, while Ryoga remained lost in thought the whole time.

As they reached the front door the trio were met by a very unimpressed looking Nabiki leading a currently male Akako along by the wrist. But, more interestingly, Akako had a very happy looking Shampoo clasped onto her.

"You pulled the same trick?" RanmaC said as the other trio got into earshot.

"Bro? That's you?" Akako replied, hurrying her pace to get a better look at her brother. "I forgot I even owned that dress."

"I... well, I wanted to go all in on the girly to make sure nobody questioned me," RanmaC muttered. "Didn't quite work though... but what's with Shampoo? Does she know you're you?"

"Shampoo knows," the Chinese girl announced, rubbing her cheek against Akako's. "But if Akako look like this more often, then Shampoo can marry her."

"What happened to wanting to marry me?" RanmaC asked.

Shampoo opened her eyes and gave a bit of a shrug. "Either twin is fine with Shampoo. Especially when both will change from cute boy to cute girl or other way around."

"Well it's nice to know," RanmaC began.

"That you find us so interchangeable," Akako finished.

"You are welcome," Shampoo said genuinely.

Nabiki burst out into laughter at that, drawing confused looks from both twins. For his part, RanmaA felt a bit embarrassed they looked so lost.

"What's so funny?" Akako asked.

"You're inseparable and finish each other's sentences. With a little more practice copying how the other one moves, I doubt even your mom could tell you apart with Jusenkyo magic. So, I think Shampoo's perfectly justified in saying she doesn't care which one of you she marries," Nabiki replied.

The twins both blushed.

Suddenly Akako turned, her eye twitching. "Wait, is that Ryoga?"

"H-hi there," Ryoga said.

"What's he doing here?" Akako asked.

"He's here to apologise," RanmaA said. "Akane's waiting on both of you, so, you should probably go apologise to her first."

"If we can dislodge Shampoo," Nabiki said with a sarcastic grin.

It was then that it started to rain. RanmaA found himself shrinking a little, while he braced for the sight of a _cat_. Only, he noticed Shampoo didn't quite change how he'd expected, and instead was turned into a tiger cub. They weren't exactly his idea of _cute_ , but... they weren't quite as unsettling as house cats. Ryoga, for his part, turned into a piglet as RanmaA had expected.

What surprised everyone was the fact neither twin changed.

"Okay, last I checked instant curses don't override normal ones, so... what's goin' on?" RanmaA asked.

"I, uh, I used some waterproof soap to make sure I didn't waste the jusenkyo powder," RanmaC replied.

"Same," Akako added.

"Well, that's one way to be thorough," RanmaA said, currently too overwhelmed to really process any of this.

* * *

RanmaA was surprised by how the twins managed actually well worded apologies. At least until Nabiki made a sarcastic comment about Akako being quite happy by Shampoo's snuggling.

"I mean, I don't get that sort of attention from cute girls often... I haven't built up any immunity to it," the currently male Akako protested.

Akane sighed and shook her head. "So, what adventure did you get up to, Ranma?"

"Pardon?" RanmaC asked.

"Well, you _did_ run into Ryoga, who we all know is as head over heels for Akako as Shampoo is for you," Nabiki said. "Did he decide you two are interchangeable like Shampoo did?"

RanmaC blushed. "I... he only thinks I look cute because I look like Akako. It's not for me."

"That blush looks like you'd be happy if he liked you for you," Nabiki said, leaning in with a predatory look in her eyes.

"What? No! No..." RanmaC protested.

"Are you really one to make any sorta comments, Nabiki," RanmaA added.

Nabiki blinked. "Pardon?"

"I know my Nabiki back home's never been shy about pinchin' me whatever form I'm in, and Natsuo was pretty happy either way," RanmaA said. "So teasin' him over likin' a guy seems a bit hypo-hy-jerkish."

He could help but smile as Nabiki looked actually flustered for once. Apparently access to information of parallel universes was useful... he was going to try his best to remember more information.

"Well, Akako, Ranma... just go get a bath. It's weird seeing you two backwards," Akane muttered.

"Uh... that's not going to work for a while," Akako said. "We both used waterproof soap, so... we're probably stuck for a few days at least."

Akane's eye twitched. "Because the extra one of you wasn't confusing enough..."

* * *

Ryoga's apology wasn't going quite as well.

"I didn't know it would do _that_ to you," Ryoga blurted, growing increasingly frazzled.

"You were willing to rewrite part of me with magic from the start. Just because it rewrote more than you expected doesn't change that you wanted me changed to become 'yours'," Akako snapped.

Ryoga shrank into his chair, looking to both Ranmas for support. They could only shrug. RanmaA had only managed to forgive his Ryoga because it had been an accident. He wasn't sure what his local counterpart was thinking (assuming it was correct to call the local Ranma his counterpart, rather than Akako).

"If it's any consolation, the Ryoga in the last universe was thinking about getting a girl curse to try to win over the guy he liked, so... he's not really good at thinking things through," RanmaA offered.

He supposed it was that Ryoga was his friend back home that was making him defend this Ryoga? Or it was just the look of total defeat in his rival's eyes...

"Hmph... fine, I guess I don't need to kill you then," Akako grumbled, continuing to stare over at him.

"So, Shampoo should stop planning gravesites?" the Nujiezu girl asked, appearing in the doorway.

"What? Yes! I wasn't going to actually murder him... I just wanted to beat the snot out of him," Akako replied, a bit of worry in her voice.

"I probably still deserve that," Ryoga muttered.

"Y'know, that could be a good test of my boy form," Akako said, hopping to her feat. "Let's see how well this goes."

As the two Ranmas followed her, RanmaA noticed RanmaC was comparing Akako's build to his own.

"I think she's bulkier than you," the local Ranma whispered.

"I mean, both of ya are a bit taller than me as guys... but, I guess with her always tryin' to keep up with guys without a guy mode normally she got extra buff?" RanmaA offered. "I know tryin' to fight Ryoga or Mousse in girl mode ain't fun for me."

RanmaC nodded.

The rest of the walk to the dojo was quiet, and the pair of Ranmas and Shampoo sat at the edge. Akako and Ryoga bowed to one another, slipped into stances, and then Akako exploded into a flurry of strikes. Ryoga did his best to dodge, but it Akako was simply too fast. It was the same thing RanmaA had noticed with sparring her when she was in girl mode; she knew how to make the most of the few times she got close enough to strike. Now, with a height and reach advantage on her side, RanmaA had to admit to being very impressed. (He suspected that she could only keep up this level of pressure for so long though.)

Akako then slipped in for a judo inspired grip that RanmaA remembered Kaneda showing him was a signature of the Tendo school.

"She does grapple practice with Akane, doesn't she?" RanmaA whispered to RanmaC.

"Yeah... I try to get moves second hand, but Akane gets all weird when I ask to practice with her," the local boy replied.

Whatever RanmaA was going to say was interrupted when he saw a strain on Ryoga's face and then noticed his shoulder looked... _off_.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh," Akako muttered, backing off a bit. "I didn't think I was putting _that_ much pressure on."

Ryoga's eye twitched a little as he looked down at his dislocated shoulder. "I should probably go visit Tofu's clinic."

"Nah, Shampoo can fix that," the girl announced as she hopped to her feet. "Stand still."

Ryoga pretty much froze as she touched him (no doubt from her having been willing to look for places to bury his body earlier). She grabbed ahold of his upper arm and shoulder, pushed, and then... Ryoga screamed.

" _KAMI!_ That hurt," Ryoga shouted. "I suppose it's fair punishment though."

* * *

Genma's eye twitched when he and Nodoka were given a rundown of what RanmaC and Akako had done.

"My daughter's manlier than my son," he muttered.

"What's that supposed t'mean?" RanmaC and RanmaA shouted in unison.

"Look at what you're wearing," Genma grumbled. "And look how muscular she is... it's all backwards."

"I'm just butch," Akako countered.

"I think it's good fun," Nodoka said with a small grin. "It changes things up."

* * *

Changing in the nurse's office for gym class, as he'd been doing the past few days, RanmaA was a bit surprised to have the local Ranma strole in a short while later looking a little beaten up.

"Uh, what happened?" RanmaA asked as he pulled his shorts on.

"I thought, since I'm in girl mode of the next few days, I'd change with the girls. _Apparently_ they didn't see the logic in that," RanmaC muttered. "The only reason they didn't kill me was my pointing out that I look like Akako right now and couldn't show the boys that."

"Yeah... I'm not surprised," RanmaA said, unbuttoning his shirt (he'd been warned about trying anything as far back as the cat's tongue issue). "Wait... where's Akako?"

"She's changing with the guys," RanmaC replied flatly.

* * *

Strolling up to the boy's part of the gym class, RanmaA noticed a lot of depressed faces. Especially from Daisuke and Hiroshi. He walked over to Akako, curious what happened.

"She's more muscular than her brother," a boy muttered as RanmaA walked past.

That answered his question.

* * *

The next afternoon, RanmaA and Akako (still in boy mode) were quietly bathing after a sparring match when the furo door slammed open, revealing a grumpy looking girl form RanmaC. The cursed boy marched over to the showerhead, sat down, and turned the shower on full blast.

"What's up?" Akako asked.

"Ryoga asked me out properly," RanmaC muttered.

"And you're not happy?" RanmaA asked. (On some level he'd begun to think the two were going to end up together... maybe it was Akako spending the last few days in guy mode that had flipped which twin he identified with... and wanted to have win over Akane.)

"Of course I'm not happy. I've got a fiancee, and he's only asking me because I'm temporarily turned into a girl... and his spotty record with respecting sis really makes me doubt he'd respect me," RanmaC muttered, still sitting under the full blast showerhead.

"Well, good luck getting the soap off," Akako said.

* * *

Akako's waterproof soap had lasted one more day, and then it was back to red pandas chasing each other around, making strange noises as they battled. They also spent quite a lot of time riding around on RanmaA or Akane's shoulders.

RanmaA had been glad the waterproof soap had worn off, since he'd forgotten to take pictures of the twins in their cursed mode for his photo album. And they were just so cute...

RanmaA found himself distracted from his math homework (which was giving him a headache... surely he hadn't missed _that_ many lessons in just a month?) by watching the two red pandas do battle with the giant panda that was their father. Still, he wasn't too distracted to miss Akane sitting down beside him.

"Your me is lucky," the girl said.

RanmaA turned to her, a bit confused. "Pardon?"

"She can just choose you and be done with it," Akane replied, staring out at the wrestling animals. "I've got pressure from both of them..."

"So, you really can't choose?" the exiled boy asked.

"Now, yeah. Before, I just thought Akako's feelings for me were a schoolgirl crush, and that anything I felt to her was just as fleeting. But... when she turned into a guy and Ra-my Ranma was turned into a girl... I realised how my feelings for both of them are the same," Akane said quietly. "The idea of being wrapped in her arms when she's turned into a guy... or wandering around Harajuku with him, looking at cute things... both feel right."

"I ain't really got any ideas how to fix it," RanmaA said. "Sorry."

"Maybe if there were two of me too," Akane sighed.

"Thinkin' about the drowned twin spring?"

Akane blinked, before turning to RanmaA. "That's a thing!?"

"Yeah. I don't exactly know _how_ it works, but... I've seen it work," RanmaA replied. "Ya just make sure you use enough, or else you might just get an extra finger or somethin'."

"What?" Akane asked, looking a bit horrified. "It can duplicate limbs?"

"Maybe? I know it can duplicated a goose egg on your head," he replied, shrugging. "Magic is weird."

A flash of green on his wrist made the exiled boy groan. "Speakin' of... gotta go grab my backpack."

"Oh my, you're leaving now?" Akane said as RanmaA ran off to grab his pack.

"Yeah, I don't get much control!" he shouted, before hurrying into the kitchen, where he found Nodoka and Kasumi working on dinner. "You two can make a bit less food, I'm leaving now."

"Oh! Here, do take some rice crackers," Nodoka said, pulling a pack out of the cupboard.

"Thanks," RanmaA said, before turning to hope he could run into the yard fast enough.

To his relief, all three of the panda brigade had been called in by Akane, and were each holding signs with various well wishes on them.

"Try not to drive each other nuts... at least not too much," RanmaA said to the red panda twins.

The twins saluted him, before a new flash of green caused this world to vanish.


	5. Chapter 4: Kabuki

**Chapter 4: Kabuki**

RanmaA found himself appearing in a mess of lights and cables amongst metallic beams. It took him a moment to get his bearings, when he realised he was above a stage. Below, the actors were dressed in assorted old fashioned clothing. RanmaA knew enough about theatre to guess it was a kabuki production, but didn't know the play. (He was sure Akane would judge him for that, but pops was never big on cultured... things.)

He wasn't sure how far along the play was when he appeared, which left him a bit confused about who certain characters were. What did impress him was the efforts of the onnagata. He knew enough about kabuki to know the roles were played by men, but the two main roles were deeply convincing... at least from RanmaA's vantage point above the play.

Finally, after what had to be almost two hours, the play wrapped up. As the lights turned off and the audience began to leave, RanmaA decided it was time to navigate his way down from amongst the lights. He had to figure out where the local version of himself was. Slipping along, past various stage hands, he got enough strange looks that left him to feel his local counterpart had to be someone important around here.

He also had to admit that the backstage area was a confusing labyrinth and gave in and ask for directions. A quick glance around spotted him a pair of men who seemed to be chatting casually, unlike the flurry of activity around. RanmaA slipped over to them with a smile as one of them mentioned something about a strange green flash during the show.

"Yo there," RanmaA said with a casual wave. "Is there a Saotome Ranma around here?"

The two men blinked, just staring at the exiled boy for what felt like a little too long.

"Are you a... uh, a cousin or somethin'?" the older of the two men asked.

"Somethin' like that, yeah."

"Man, you look so much like Saotome-chan, but you carry yourself so different," the younger stagehand said. "I, uh... his changeroom's just through this hall and is the third door on the left side, after you've turned left."

RanmaA raised an eyebrow. 'Saotome-chan'... was the local version a fair bit younger then?

Either way, RanmaA gave a quick bow and thank you before following the directions given. The hallway was an interesting assortment of actors still in costume laughing as they talked about how the performance had gone. He moved past them quickly, reaching a door marked with his name a few metres later. Well, a _version_ of his name. The floral kanji for 'Ran' was a new. (Even Ranko's name had kept the chaotic kanji he was used to.)

Well, there was nothing to it but to head on in, so RanmaA opened the door and slid into the room. Inside he found Ukyo (with surprisingly short hair) helping a beautiful young woman change out of an elegant and complex stage kimono. All three occupants of the room froze and stared at one another for a few seconds.

"Uh... I might have the wrong room," RanmaA muttered.

"Unless you're looking for my father, I rather suspect you do not," the beautiful figure replied, hurrying over to give RanmaA a thorough inspection. "I never suspected he would have an illegitimate child who would come knocking... oh, but I look like mother much more than father. It can't be mother who has the illegitimate child, surely? What do you think, Ukyo?"

"I'd propose a twin your family had to give up, but your parents are pretty loaded, so I can't begin to guess who this b'y is," Ukyo replied.

RanmaA blinked, finally registering who this elegant person was. And recognising the voice from the play earlier. "Y-you're Saotome Ranma then?"

The beautiful looking onnagata nodded. "The one and only."

"And you're an onnagata," the exiled boy asked, even if he already knew the answer.

"I am indeed. One of the best in Japan too," RanmaD replied, a grin that felt more familiar to the other spreading across the actor's face.

"I should've known," RanmaA muttered, eyes drifting to the mirror. "If I was gonna be any kabuki role, that's what I'd end up."

"Pardon?" the other Ranma asked.

"The name's also Saotome Ranma, though it's spelled a little different," RanmaA replied, lifting back his sleeve to reveal the bracelet that was giving him such a headache. "This thing's a magical artifact that's sendin' me between worlds. It probably sounds crazy to ya, but I've got pictures I can show ya for a couple of the worlds I've been to. Oh, and show you my curse, if ya ain't sure about magic."

"Another world?" the onnagata asked, eyes lighting up. "How fascinating! With magic to show me? And you're not tied to kabuki? What do you do then?"

"I'm a martial artist," the pigtailed boy replied.

"A martial artist? That sounds thrilling! You have to tell me everything while I get changed," the onnagata declared, grinning away.

RanmaA wasn't sure how long getting changed out of all _that_ would take, but hoped his story could take up most of the time involved. He described his general life story, going over his training journey first. He wasn't sure how best to go about discussing his time with Ukyo, not sure the relationship this Ranma had to this Ukyo, but he decided honesty was _probably_ best. When he described his father breaking the engagement promise and how he later learned his Ukyo declared her life as a woman finished, the local Ukyo burst into laughter.

"She's got a bit of a head start on me for my otokoyaku training then," Ukyo explained, seeing RanmaA's confused face. "I only met my Ranma at around age 11. I saw him in a play and thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dreams were crushed when I found out kabuki only hired men, but then he snuck off with me to watch a takarazuka play and I found out I could be an actress too. Being such a tomboy around an onnagata like him, I fell into reading male parts when he needed someone to practice with. And, well, the male roles just seem like so much fun."

"Heh, well, my Ucchan ain't really much of an actress. She's focused on her cookin'. Or martial arts," RanmaA replied.

RanmaA set back into telling his life story, getting some raised eyebrows that he couldn't read when he mentioned his friendly rivalry with Ryoga. Then it was on to Jusenkyo, and he managed to find a glass of water just in time.

"So, I was falling into the spring and," RanmaA splashed himself with the glass. "Got this curse."

Both members of his audience had their eyes go wide at that. RanmaA couldn't help giggling at the timing, as his onnagata counterpart had just finished removing makeup and actually looked like a guy at last.

"So cute!" the onnagata said, leaning into RanmaA's personal space once again. "Your nose looks so delicate. Oh, and the red hair really brings out your blue eyes."

"Uh, thanks?" the cursed boy offered.

"Does it hurt or anything?" Ukyo asked.

"No, not at all. Just a little tingly," RanmaA replied.

Before the exiled boy could continued his story there was a knock at the door.

"Are you changed?" Akane's voice called out.

"Changed enough," RanmaD called back, now wearing a yukata that managed to look down right casual compared to his previous outfit.

Akane opened the door a moment later, looked about to say something, until she spotted RanmaA and was visibly thrown. He was thrown too, surprised to see her with long hair again. (Or, rather... still?)

"Uh, hi there?" Akane said, turning to RanmaD and Ukyo with questioning eyes.

"He's me!" RanmaD replied, face lit up with excitement.

"Because that makes sense right now," Ukyo said, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

"Right, right. How do we change you back? More water? Or does it just take time? Or... something else? Sneezing maybe?" the onnagata asked.

"Wait, she changed with water?" Akane asked, stepping over to look the exiled redhead over. "Was it hot or cold?"

"Room temperature?" the local Ranma replied.

"That counts as cold," RanmaA and Akane said at the same time, before blinking and turning to each other.

"You have a Jusenkyo curse?" Akane asked.

"How do you know about Jusenkyo?" RanmaA countered, not defensively, just surprised.

"Well, my dad's old sensei has a few enemies from that part of China, including some with curses," Akane replied.

"Ah, so you're still a martial artist?" RanmaA asked.

"Of course. My family's run a dojo for generations," Akane said. "You're avoiding my question though."

"Oh! Oh! Sorry 'bout that! Yeah, I, uh, I've got a girl curse. Normally I look more like, uh, well, him over there," RanmaA replied, pointing towards RanmaD. "Didn't mean to avoid the question, just tryin' to get my bearings. Speakin' of... uh, how do you and this Ranma know each other?"

"She helps us with fight choreography. And she loooves theatre," RanmaD said, strolling back over with a kettle and poured it on the exiled boy's head (apparently he'd managed to figure out that hot water was the fix), "How do _you_ know an Akane-kun?"

RanmaA went as red as his hair had just been. "Uhh... w-well, y'see... we, uh... we're..."

"Oh! You're her girlfriend!" Ukyo declared.

"I'm not her girlfriend! I'm her fiancé!" the exiled boy blurted, before realising what he'd said. Panic filling him, he turned to see how this Akane might be responding.

"Engaged, really?" Akane asked, looking far less impacted by the news than he'd expected. If anything, she just sounded skeptical. "How did that happen?"

Ranma took a deep breath and gave Akane a quick rundown of their life up to where they'd gotten RanmaD and Ukyo, and then explained their post curse life, getting a bit of blushing out of Akane when he explained why she was forced ahead by her sisters. And laughter from Ukyo.

"So, I think that's about everythin' about me. I've got some pictures and stories about the other universes I visited if ya want to see that?" RanmaA offered.

"I'm a little peckish, how about we head off for something to eat and discuss it there?" RanmaD replied.

"Food sounds good ta me," the exiled boy replied with a grin.

* * *

RanmaA was almost afraid to touch anything as they sat quietly in the outrageously high end ramen restaurant. The prices had made him pale, and he had to wonder how any Ukyo had been brought into this restaurant willingly.

"Don't worry, I'm paying," his onnagata doppelganger replied.

"How can you afford this joint?" RanmaA asked, getting a smirk out of Ukyo and RanmaD covered his mouth to giggle. "What?"

"The Saotome family has had money for a while, plus father and grandfather have done more than a few movies," RanmaD replied. "I've even done a movie myself, but... movies don't respect the art of the onnagata enough to give me any leading roles. Either way, we're doing quite well for funds."

"They were open to giving you a try that one time," Ukyo replied with a mischievous grin.

"They wanted me to play a male romantic lead!" RanmaD protested dramatically. "My training would be utterly inapplicable."

"Not big on improv?" the exiled Ranma asked.

"My parents both firmly insist on staying dedicated to one art," the onnagata replied.

RanmaD was about to complain further when a familiar and elegant face sat down at their table.

"I hope I'm not too late," Konatsu said as she sat down beside the local Ranma. "My hair takes so long to... I... am I seeing double?"

"I'm not from around here," the exiled boy replied. "I've been travellin' through dimensions, or universes, or... whatever you'd call it. Oh, right! I've got some pics of some of the other... uh... worlds."

With that, RanmaA produced his photos to pass around. As he did so, he noticed a blush on his local counterpart's face, and wasn't sure what to make of it. Was it about the photos?

The discussion about the pictures intermingled with discussing menu choices. RanmaA nervously chose something as cheap as possible, while explaining who the boys from the one universe were. Akane seemed to linger on the picture of the male Shampoo, though the exiled lad couldn't read her response to it.

When the ramen arrived, RanmaA was disappointed by the small portions, but was too nervous to complain. He still got some stares from his table manners, especially from others at the table comparing him to his local counterpart.

"It is such a contrast," Konatsu said giving RanmaA a once over that felt unusually thorough.

"My pops didn't exactly care to teach me much in the way of manners... which I ain't the proudest of, I'll admit. Been workin' on it though." RanmaA replied, feeling a little defensive.

"Oh, no. I did not mean to be judgmental. I simply meant that it is interesting; meeting a rugged version of Ranma is something I never expected," Konatsu replied quickly. "Having the same face held so differently... it is almost like seeing a perfect performance."

Suddenly Ukyo lit up and grabbed a glass of water to pour a little water on RanmaA's head. "And his Jusenkyo curse means he could be an amazin' otokoyaku."

"And so cute! The pictures did not do your beauty justice!" Konatsu said.

RanmaA couldn't help blushing a little at how genuine she sounded. He'd always felt a little guilty around Konatsu, his transformation being so easy and accidental. He also noticed his local counterpart looked just as frazzled, mouthing the word 'rugged' to himself.

Gradually the conversation shifted over to the latest performance, and Akane's studies at school, which apparently fascinated the other three, who had no experience with the normal Japanese education. The exiled lad on the other hand found himself confused by the way her descriptions didn't line up with what he remembered.

At one point, while RanmaA was debating reaching for some extra toppings, both RanmaD and Konatsu reached for some, only to have their hands brushing briefly. The pair turned bright red. The exiled boy's best guess for why was that physical contact was frowned upon in _proper_ table manners, instead of the full contact combat style that Genma had taught him.

* * *

The group had split up after eating, Akane heading off to grab a train, while Konatsu's apartment was apparently close enough to walk to.

RanmaA was a bit surprised that Ukyo had joined himself and the local Ranma in the taxi to the Saotome home. The three of them headed into a house that was impressively large for this far into Tokyo (the property was probably a smidge larger than the Tendo home, and without a dojo to fill up land that was instead dedicated to extensive gardens). The wealth on display seemed as much a shock to RanmaA now as the Tendo home had been a little over a year ago when he'd first shown up there.

"So, uh, do you live here too?" RanmaA asked as he removed his shoes.

"I got a gig as the family cook when I first started my training here," Ukyo replied. "Nowadays, I'm mostly Ranma-chan's personal assistant, but I help out when auntie Nodoka needs help with parties and such."

RanmaA nodded, not really sure there was anything to say.

"Ah, Ranma, you're home at... there's two of you?" Nodoka said as she appeared around a corner.

RanmaA let out a sigh. It was time for _another_ introduction.

"Is father around? It may be most efficient to tell his story to both of you at once," RanmaD said with a gentle smile directed to RanmaA.

It seemed a settled life had a positive influence on this Ranma's ability to read others' emotions.

* * *

Introductions to Genma and Nodoka had taken quite a while. Nodoka had seemed quite unsurprised by the idea that Genma would leave with Ranma for ten years, leading to an argument about his work life balance and his recently taking a job that was going to have him in the Netherlands for three months.

RanmaD had dragged RanmaA off to the rather large and plush bed room that belonged to the local boy when the argument started to get too heated. (Ukyo having snuck off much earlier in the conversation.)

RanmaA found himself sat down on a soft zabuton cushion while his onnagata counterpart sat across from him. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he could tell _something_ was about to be discussed from the look of determination of his counterpart's face. RanmaD spent a moment playing with a few long strands of hair before letting out a sigh.

"I need your help," the onnagata said at last. "From the sounds of things, you're a proper ladies man, what with all the girls who chase after you."

"I mean, I mostly go off my stunnin' good looks," RanmaA admitted. "Which you've definitely got too."

"Still, you know how to flirt as a man!" RanmaD said, enthusiasm in his voice.

"A bit, yeah..."

"Then I am sure you can help. I've been so in love with an unparalleled beauty, but I have no idea how to go about courting a delicate and maidenly heart. I am much more used to acting out the other side of that ancient dance," RanmaD explained, getting flowery with excitement.

"I guess I can try... I ain't really sure either Akane or Ukyo'd count as havin' delicate and maidenly hearts though," RanmaA replied.

His counterpart blinked, before staring at the exiled boy for a slightly uncomfortably long silence.

"Uh... it ain't Shampoo or... Nabiki, maybe? Kodachi?" RanmaA offered, trying to figure out which girl this counterpart of himself would be in love with.

"No? None of those girls. I barely know any of those last three," RanmaD replied, looking as confused as the exiled boy felt.

"Uh... I'm not sure who else is left... that's all the girls I've ever had any 'romantic' type of interactions with," RanmaA explained with a shrug.

"Truly? Ah, yes! You said you only met Konatsu quite recently, no?"

It was the exiled Ranma's turn to blink. "Y-ya like Konatsu?"

RanmaD nodded enthusiastically. "I think I have had an interest in her ever since mother brought her home. Even covered in mud and wearing only rags, I knew I had never seen such a beauty. I was so thrilled when, after mother took Konatsu for a bath and received a bit of a shock, father soon agreed Konatsu would be an amazing onnagata and we would let her join out theatre and that meant she would stay."

It was a bit of a surprise, since RanmaA had never had any romantic interest in the ninja girl, but... she _was_ pretty. Even knowing about her 'condition', most of the boys at Furinkan back home considered her one of the top beauties of the area.

"How long have you known her?" RanmaA asked.

"Ah... a good four years now? Perhaps a little longer."

"Four years and you ain't said anythin'?"

RanmaD blushed a little, eyes falling to the floor. "I worry she has no interest in one as feminine as myself. I also know that father would not approve of my falling for someone like her..."

"Someone he'd think of as a guy?" RanmaA asked.

RanmaD looked up, shock in those grey blue eyes. "I... oh, I had not thought he might feel that way. I was more worried about how she is an orphan with no kabuki pedigree... Father has mentioned that at times he feels as if it is cheating to have Konatsu as an onnagata, so I'm not sure he really sees her as a man."

"Really?"

The onnagata Saotome nodded. "She lives as a girl full time. And ask that we always refer to her as a girl, to be fully dedicated to the art. Father has wondered to himself if she is, somehow, really a girl."

"I mean, Konatsu back home says she is. As for likin' feminine guys... that's hard to say. Ukyo's the focus of her romantic interests in the worlds I've known," the exiled boy replied.

"Ah... I am truly doomed then. There is not a chance I could match Ukyo's masculine charms. She already charmed Kurenai and Akaneya... Ukyo clearly has a way with any onnagata besides myself," RanmaD proclaimed, flopping into his back dramatically. "Perhaps I should just accept Hibiki's clumsy attempts. At least I know that he is interested."

"Wait, as in Ryoga?" RanmaA asked, leaning forward to try to see his local counterpart's face.

The onnagata pouted for a moment. "He is absolutely terrible at poetry, but handled discovering I was male much better than other suitors. Especially Kuno..."

"I, uh... Lemme do some investigatin'," RanmaA replied, before nodding confidently. "I might find some good news."

"You would do that for me?" RanmaD asked, sitting up with a smile.

"I'm an excellent investigator," RanmaA replied with a smirk.

* * *

Both Ranmas had spent the morning practicing their respective arts. RanmaA was preparing to head off to talk to Konatsu, only to find Shampoo, Akane, and Cologne waiting at the front door of this Saotome residence.

"I'm sorry, auntie Cologne wanted to examine your bracelet," Akane said with a quick bow.

"Uh, sure? I don't think she can find anythin' the last three couldn't, but I guess there's no harm in tryin'?" RanmaA offered. "I, uh, I don't know if I can really invite ya in though. It's not exactly my house."

"We can go to a restaurant, the examination is nothing invasive," Cologne replied. "There is a nice looking little burger restaurant near the station just north of here, let's go."

RanmaA nodded, following after the other three. Shampoo kept eyeing him strangely, and Akane seemed similarly awkward. Maybe it was the news that they were engaged in other universes that made Akane so frazzled and Shampoo so suspicious.

If that was true, then Ranma felt guilty about being unable to avoid looking at Akane. But he couldn't help worrying about how lonely she had to be here. Had the Hentai Horde issues kept up? Was Kuno still harassing her? The long hair made her remind him of the lonely Akane he'd first met so much he couldn't not worry...

To Ranma's surprise, Shampoo suddenly wrapped an arm around Akane and glared at him. Akane responded by blushing.

"Sh-Shampoo... you don't need to be so defensive," Akane protested.

"Shampoo sees the way that boy is looking at _airen_. Want to remind him that you are not _his_ ," Shampoo replied sharply.

"Don't worry. I ain't gonna cheat on my Akane back home," Ranma stated, matching Shampoo's sharp tone. "I just remember how-wait, did you say ' _airen_ '? You two... are you two a thing?"

Shampoo gave Ranma a large grin. "That stick swinging idiot who launched the challenge for dating Akane forgot to specify if challenge was 'boys only' or not. So Shampoo showed up and defeated her to save from idiot boys."

"We, uh... we went on a few dates for 'appearances' sake. Then Taro showed up, and Shampoo saved me, and... I realised I had feelings for her. So, on our next date, I kissed her," Akane added, her eyes getting a bit sparkly. "I was so glad that she returned it."

"Huh," Ranma replied, not really sure what to make of it. Maybe he should have expected some of the worlds to be rather different from home...

"Wait, but what had ya in Tokyo in the first place?" Ranma asked.

"The same thing that has me so interested in that bracelet of yours, child," Cologne replied. "I heard that old Happi was still alive, and wanted to track down the treasures he'd stolen from my people. I've gotten a few of them back, but he'd apparently forgotten where he's left at least half of them. That bracelet of yours should help me gain it's magic signature and track down the local counterpart. It should hopefully be stored with several other artifacts."

RanmaA nodded, following the old woman into the burger restaurant. After ordering a little food, he waited as quietly as he could while Cologne examined the bracelet with an assortment of magical instruments. He wasn't sure how any of it worked, but she seemed to know what she was doing.

He was also quite distracted by the way Shampoo was busy flirting with Akane. The way she kept looking up at him made RanmaA sure she was purposefully messing with him. He wasn't sure how to not feel jealousy though, even if that wasn't his Akane, his heart couldn't tell as easily as his brain.

After about an hour or so, Cologne seemed satisfied she'd learned all she could and declared the examination finished. The exiled Ranma headed off, shaking his head. He was sure Shampoo would be a handful for Akane, but... well, they seemed happy together. Maybe Akane liked being flustered.

He'd have to think about trying to flirt more when he got home. (She did always seem very jealous when she caught him messing with Ryoga...)

Well, he was going to make sure he would find out soon. He missed his Akane. Being able to make her smile without knowing he was stealing that smile from someone else...

RanmaA shook his head. There was no point in dwelling on the issue right now. He had to play matchmaker for his local counterpart.

The crowds of central Tokyo made him feel a little claustrophobic, but there was no option to roof-hop amongst the skyscrapers of downtown. The exiled boy did his best to ignore the crowds, following the directions he'd gotten for how to find Konatsu's apartment. He did wonder at all the cell phones he saw people using, though. Was Nerima really so far behind the center of the city? And... these phones were so small. RanmaA shook his head. That wasn't his focus right now.

Maybe he should have taken the train, this was a longer walk that he'd expected?

Oh well, he was at least halfway there, so there was no point in switching now. (Plus, he didn't know Taito-ku's trains very well, so it would probably be easier to just walk, instead of trying to figure out trains he didn't know.)

Finally, he reached the address he'd been given. It was a large apartment complex, looking a touch rundown, but probably only because Tokyo was such an immaculate city. RanmaA headed up the stairs, hunting for the number to show Konatsu's apartment. Finding it, he knocked.

Almost before he'd finished knocking the door opened, revealing Konatsu's smiling face.

"Ranma! What-oh! You're the other Ranma," Konatsu said, her smile shifting in a way that RanmaA was sure meant... _something._ He just wasn't sure what.

"Could I come in?" the exiled boy asked.

"Ah, yes. Of course! Of course!" Konatsu replied, stepping aside.

RanmaA stepped in, pulling off his shoes and heading into the small apartment. The decorations were simple, but pleasant. A few items looked rather expensive to him though. Probably a sign Konatsu still wasn't good with her money. Stepping into the living room, RanmaA blinked as he found Konatsu lounging at the table, reading her script.

Turning, he found the Konatsu who'd opened the door behind him, a smile on her face.

"Huh, so you're still practicin' your ninjutsu?" RanmaA asked.

"It is my family's art. I know my step family wouldn't respect it, so I maintain it," the Konatsu behind him replied.

"I hope you don't mind if I keep reading for a couple more minutes?" the other Konatsu asked. "I have to practice while the play is running."

"Uh sure. Should we talk in a different room? And, uh, does that even matter for your ability to concentrate?" RanmaA asked.

"The kitchen would work," the standing Konatsu replied, leading RanmaA off to the side room.

"I'm never quite sure how separate your forms are when ya use that technique," the exiled boy said as he sat down at the kitchen table.

Konatsu just gave him a soft smile. "A girl must keep her secrets."

"Well, hopefully not too many," RanmaA said, with his own smile. He noticed Konatsu blush a little as he said that, and knew enough about girls to know that that might be a good sign.

"What sort of secrets are you hoping to learn?" Konatsu asked, an eyebrow raised elegantly. RanmaA had to admit that the girl knew how to act aloof.

"Well, all the versions of you that I've met so far have been pretty interested in Ucchan. So... is that where you interests lie?" the pigtailed boy asked.

"Kuonji? I... not quite, no," Konatsu replied, sounding honestly surprised.

"After somebody with that sorta 'boyish' charm though?" RanmaA asked.

Suddenly Konatsu's aloofness was shattered, and the ninja onnagata went bright red. "I had not thought so until recently, but..."

Konatsu had moved her eyes up to look at RanmaA, and then became locked on his face.

"Boyish is nice too," Konatsu muttered.

RanmaA found himself struggling not to blush himself. He'd never thought about Konatsu in a romantic way before, but... having her look at him like that, how could he not feel flustered?

The spell was broken a bit as the second Konatsu bonked Ranma on the head with her script from behind.

"Very ungentlemanly, taking advantage of a poor girl when her defenses are reduced," the standing Konatsu replied.

"Her defenses are reduced? Wait, so the multi-body jutsu effects willpower then?" RanmaA asked.

Rather than answering, the standing Konatsu walked over to her sitting counterpart and sat down on her other version's lap. Only, rather than staying on her lap, the pair instead merged together, growing oddly fuzzy for a moment before the merger finished and they clicked in place together.

"Maybe," the reunified Konatsu said, her aloofness returned in full.

"I really need to learn how to do that," RanmaA muttered.

"It's a family secret," Konatsu replied, smiling just a little.

"He's hopin' local me can manage then, if things work out," RanmaA mumbled under his breath, before realising what he'd said and paling.

Glancing up, he saw Konatsu was bright red. "I would never dream to have caught his refined eye."

"Wait, so then you are interested?" Ranma asked, leaning forward in excitement.

"You really go for the direct approach, don't you?" Konatsu replied, coyly burying her face in her hands, covering a blush a bit.

"I never really learned how ta do anythin' else," RanmaA replied with a weak smile. He honestly felt a bit guilty to have flustered Konatsu so much. He'd been sent to find information though. "So... what's the answer? Because I can tell ya that he's quite interested."

He swore he saw smoke coming out of her ears. "T-truly?"

"That's why I'm here. I was sent to check if you shared his feelings," Ranma explained.

Konatsu's chair tipped back the ninja/onnagata fell over with it. RanmaA scrambled to his feet and ran over to check on her.

"Are you okay?" Ranmaa asked, kneeled down beside her.

"I never dreamed... what do I do now?" Konatsu asked, apparently oblivious to her current horizontal position.

"Uh... you should wait here, I think? I'll... do you have, er, your me's phone number anywhere? I can phone him?" RanmaA asked, looking around.

"That sounds most excellent," Konatsu mumbled, a smile spreading across her face.

RanmaA hopped to his feet and decided to go try and find Konatsu's phone. The girl herself was on cloud nine and not likely to give much useful feedback, but he was sure it wouldn't be too hard to find.

A little hunting proved his theory correct, the phone sitting beside a desk lamp in the living room. There was also an address book conveniently beside it, saving the exiled boy, as he didn't actually know the phone number for his local counterpart's home. Flipping to the correct section, he found himself smiling at the hearts Konatsu had written around his local counterpart's name. Seeing the name spelled with the differing kanji kept it at a distance that he rather needed, however.

Konatsu was just being so cute, he was worried this might be like when Shampoo stopped trying to kill him and he'd realised how cute she was. As much as he knew he loved Akane, he was still weak to being flirted with by cute girls. And maybe cute people in general, going off some recent encounters...

He dialed the number listed and waited as it rang a few times.

"Saotome residence," Ukyo's voice replied from the other end.

"Hey, it's Ranma, is... uh... your Ranma around?" RanmaA asked, still not quite used to how to word asking for his local counterparts.

"Heh, he is indeed Ra... Ran-chan, was it?" Ukyo's voice asked, a mischievous tone to her voice.

"Yeah, that's what most Ucchans tend ta call me."

"Ucchan... that's cute. Just give me a sec."

RanmaA didn't really have any other options, so he waited quietly for someone to pick up the phone again. A couple minutes later he was greeted by his own voice.

"Hello? How has it gone?"

"Pretty good," RanmaA replied. "Honestly, I don't get how you two didn't figure out ya both liked each other faster. It took pretty well no probin' to get it out of her."

"Sh-she really likes me?"

"Yeah, and... yep, she's dancin' around the kitchen now, since she's found out you like her back," RanmaA explained, having leaned over to see what the kunoichi was up to.

"You told her?" RanmaD asked nervously.

"Yeah? I thought that was the point of all this?"

"Oh gosh... I need to do something. I don't have a date plan ready... I wonder where I can get reservations in time. Ah! And what should I wear? I... I..."

"Breath," the exiled boy replied. "You've known each other for four years. You don't got to make a good impression. Just... somethin' casual maybe?"

It was so much easier to give that advice than to follow it... RanmaA always got so nervous when trying to spend casual time with Akane. Though, he defensively insisted that was driven in part by his need to be on the lookout for Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi, or... well the list was honestly pretty long.

"Casual. Casual... yes. Perhaps a nice walk around Asakusa. Tell her I will be there in 40 minutes! I think I can manage 35, but obviously being early is better than being late. Yes, and tell her she has eyes that... no, that her black eyes shine like the midnight sky. That's romantic, right?"

RanmaA blinked. It was a better line that he'd ever come up with. "I thought ya said you didn't know how to be poetic in a flirty way? That's amazin' stuff!"

"You think so? Excellent, I may yet have a chance to hold her affection! I will see you soon!"

With that, the onnagata boy hung up. RanmaA walked over to the kitchen to relay the information to Konatsu, who froze up for a few moments after getting the line about her eyes, even delivered as stiffly as RanmaA had done in his effort to remember the exact wording. Then she processed that her Ranma was going to be arriving soon and burst into four versions of herself, scattering about to clean her (already perfectly presentable) apartment.

RanmaA decided the balcony was probably the safest place to escape the activity and spent the next little while just watching the city. He swore there were buildings he didn't recognise, but chalked it up to not knowing the city from this perspective.

The doorbell rang sooner than he expected, prompting RanmaA to hop to his feet and head back into the apartment, where he saw the Konatsus looking at the clock in a panic and muttering about having not gotten changed in time.

"I'll get the door, don't worry," RanmaA said, getting thank yous from the quartet of Konatsus.

RanmaA walked over to the door, opening it up to find the local him there with a small bouquet of roses. The onnagata was dressed in a blazer, with a pink silk shirt, silver tie, and small diamond stud earrings in. He also suspected there was some makeup at play on the other him's face. At the very least there was eyeliner, but possibly a little blush or contouring? The shadows seemed to play a bit oddly on his face, so it seemed like contouring was involved, from what RanmaA understood about makeup. He also noticed the onnagata's long hair was tied back in a braid akin to his own.

"Do you think I look okay?" RanmaD asked, shifting nervously. "I thought I'd try to dress a little more 'modern'?"

"You certainly look fancy, I can say that. That outfit probably costs more than all my clothes back home."

"Does that mean I'm over dressed? I... do you think I am being overly showy? I rarely dress in contemporary styles, but I wanted something a little more masculine."

"You're loaded. Might as well show it off," RanmaA said with a shrug. "Anyway, come on in, Konatsu's figurin' out what to wear."

RanmaD nodded and followed him into the living room (after removing his shoes), and the pair sat down at the small table. The onnagata grasped his flowers nervously as he waited, muttering about how Ukyo had helped him pick his outfit, but her style was definitely very showy and takarazuka.

The door to Konatsu's room opened after a couple minutes, revealing her looking quite proper in a burgundy kimono with a subtle dark floral pattern.

"You look beauti-" RanmaD began, only to have a second Konatsu emerge in a high collared red sundress.

A third followed in a loose and light jacket, blouse, and tight fitting jeans that followed a similarly red colour scheme. Both Ranmas blinked.

"I couldn't-" "-decide what-" "-to wear." the three Konatsus said in turn.

"They're all such cute outfits... I think I can understand why," RanmaD replied, scrambling to his feet. He paused a moment, looking down at the bouquet he'd brought, before pulling out roughly a third to give to each Konatsu.

For his part, RanmaA was trying not to burst into laughter. "Well, at least we know you three won't fight."

"Pardon?" one of the Konatsu's asked.

"Well, since I've got the three fiancees back home, and they're always fightin'... I can help laughin' a little at there bein' three of ya," RanmaA explained, his efforts to keep a straight face failing.

"I-I was just thinking that you two would help me pick an outfit," another Konatsu stammered.

"I don't mind having three versions of you around. The most beautiful girl I know in every direction I look... how could I complain?" RanmaD said, smiling away happily.

The trio of Konatsus blushed at the compliment, and RanmaA had to admit to being a little impressed at how smooth his local counterpart was.

* * *

RanmaA had headed back to the local Saotome home, parting ways with RanmaD who was looking quite the ladies' man with three Konatsu's orbiting about him. The exiled boy felt quite happy with himself. This had to be a new record for fixing things, it only taking a day.

Arriving back at the stately Saotome home, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself now, but figured there had to be some manga to read or... something.

Digging about in his local counterpart's room, he found it was almost universally shoujo pieces. Glancing around a little guiltily, RanmaA grabbed one of them. He usually got in trouble for reading shoujo, so he might as well see what there was to the genre. After flipping through various shorter series aimlessly (the only one that really stood out having been a space adventure about 11 students on a space station, mainly for the one character he found relatable) he decided to try something a bit longer. He grabbed the series Card Captor Sakura, flipping it open, only to have something unexpected catch his eye: the publishing date.

It was listed as published in 2001. RanmaA stared at the date, utterly confused. Wasn't it... wasn't it 1996?

RanmaA hopped to his feet and headed downstairs, looking for anyone to ask about that. He found Ukyo and Nodoka in the garden, the short haired Osakan doing the dirty weeding work while Nodoka worked on the more delicate pruning efforts.

"Uh, hey... I've got a really weird question for both of ya, but... what year is it?" RanmaA asked.

The pair blinked, glanced at each other, before turning back to the exiled boy.

"2004... at least the last time I checked?" Nodoka replied, her tone uncertain.

"2-2004? I... that's almost ten years into the future," RanmaA muttered. "I've gotta find that old mummy. Maybe she can explain this."

"Wait, what year did you think it was?" Ukyo asked, hopping to her feet.

"1996. Like... probably late June by now? Haven't been keepin' track since I got exiled" RanmaA replied.

"Oh...that's-that's a bit of a gap," Ukyo said.

* * *

Ukyo had accompanied RanmaA to the Neko Hanten, it proving late enough in the day when they arrived that Shampoo and Akane were both on waitressing duty. RanmaA tried not to blush at how cute Akane looked in the frilly uniform, reminding himself this wasn't his Akane.

"Is, uh, is Cologne around?" Ranma asked, as the pair greeted him and Ukyo.

Shampoo eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then her eyes seemed to drift over his shoulder to where Ukyo was standing. Akane was friendlier, however.

"She should just be in the back, I can go get her for you, it will just be a moment, Saotome-kun" Akane replied, her tone polite, but a little distant.

That left Ranma alone with Shampoo and Ukyo, a situation that left him more than a little nervous on a primal level.

"What are you staying at?" Shampoo asked.

RanmaA stumbled on a reply, having not thought he was staring at anything, when Ukyo spoke up.

"The way you carry yourself. It's fascinating. Having spent so much time around onnagata and otokoyaku, I've learned a lot about how men and women carry themselves and how to mimic that, but you... you go about it in such a unique way."

Shampoo blinked, having apparently been expecting that reply as little as RanmaA had. The pair soon dove into a conversation of gender roles, Ukyo wanting to learn more about Shampoo's culture. To his surprise, the exiled Ranma found himself pulled into the conversation, discovering that Mousse's complaints about being a second class citizen were due to his interests in the Joketsuzoku's secret techniques, which was one of the few things men were barred from, due to past issues of betrayals by those wooed by the fiercely patriarchal societies that often surrounded the Joketsuzoku.

The conversation was interrupted by Cologne's arrival, Akane at her side. "Sorry it took me a while, child. There was a dish at a critical stage... now then, how may I help you?"

"This bracelet thing... is it supposed to let time travel happen?" RanmaA asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was 1996 where I came from and it's, uh..."

"2004 here," Cologne replied, nodding. "That's quite simple to explain. Time varies between worlds. You are drawn to versions of yourself, but they might not always live in the same era as yourself. As you travel further and further from your own reality... who knows, you might just end up in the Edo Era. Or perhaps the distant future."

"W-what about when I go back home? Is there any chance it'll be the wrong year then?" the exiled boy asked.

"No, no. Time flows the same for you and your own world, You will return after an amount of time matching how long you've been away," Cologne replied reassuringly.

"Well, at least that's somethin'," RanmaA said, with a slightly strained smile.

"We should definitely give you some items with the date on it then," Akane said, her eyes lighting up with an idea. "That will help prove you've been travelling to strange places if anyone doubts you in the future... or, I guess, the past?"

"Oh, that does kinda make sense," Ranma replied.

RanmaA found himself lost in thought for a few moments, the various restaurant staff heading off in their own directions. What would he do if he ended up in ancient times, where Japanese was so different he could barely understand it? Or the far future.

Suddenly, the exiled boy realised he had a chance to ask something important and hurried over to where the local Akane was sitting, with little to do as the restaurant was reasonably quiet.

"Hey, uh, A-A-er, Tendo?" RanmaA offered, getting the girl's attention.

"Yes, Saotome-kun?" the long haired girl replied, an eyebrow raised.

RanmaA took in a deep breath, unsure how to word something like his current question. "Uh, I couldn't help but notice that... that Shampoo's all... uh... I half wanna call it 'Shampoo-y', but I ain't sure that's the best word. But, uh, clingy?"

Akane nodded slowly, clearly not sure where RanmaA was going with this.

"And... and... I was wonderin' if you like that?" the exiled boy asked.

Akane blinked and blushed. "P-pardon?"

"I'm just nervous around my Akane back home and sometimes I get flirty with guys just to mess with 'em, but then my Akane gets all angry, and I always figured it was just her not likin' me messin' with guys, but Shampoo's all flirty with you, and so if you liked that does that mean my Akane's really upset that I ain't bein' that way with her, and should I try to be more like that or-" RanmaA blurted, before finding himself out of breath and having to pause to breath.

"Oh," Akane replied while he was gasping for breath. "I... I like Shampoo in part for her feeling free to be herself. She's not always the best behaved, but... well, she's always genuine. So, as weird as this is to say, I'll guess that, uh, _your_ me would feel similarly? So, don't fake being someone else."

RanmaA nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Thanks."

Akane gave him a gentle smile that made his heart race. "No worries. I... I hope you can see her again soon. It does seem like you love her."

The exiled Ranma turned bright red. "Y-yeah. A... Yeah."

Stiffly turning back to the front door, RanmaA marched awkwardly over to Ukyo, who was skimming a menu and whispered a request to leave. The Osakan shrugged and agreed and the pair set off back to downtown.

* * *

The local Akane had said RanmaA should be himself, but the next few days saw him lost in thought, trying to figure out just what that meant. Who was he, really? He'd once said the curse was a part of him, but then he'd run off to try to cure it. That might not be the only uncertainty, but figuring out if he really hated the curse or not seemed like the first question to mark off.

Of course, he had a rare opportunity right now, with a version of himself raised so differently there to talk to. Unfortunately, the little lovebird was running off on dates with Konatsu almost any time the pair were free from the play currently running, so it was a few more days before the exiled boy managed to get a chance to properly talk to him, a rainy and cold night where no one had any real interest in leaving the house.

The pair were thus reading manga in RanmaD's bedroom when the exiled martial artist decided to try and spark a conversation.

"Do you think you'd like my curse?"

The onnagata Ranma put his book down after a moment and turned to RanmaA with a puzzled look on his face. "Pardon?"

"My curse. Would you want to have it, if somebody gave you the option?"

"Oh, well... on one hand, the idea that I could spend time casually with Akane and some other friends wouldn't be bad, but, on the other hand, I think I just might worry I'd lose my last ties to masculinity? Not that I have anything against femininity. I quite enjoy being able to explore it to the degree that my art allows, but I don't want to give up masculinity altogether?" RanmaD replied, visibly deep in thought. "Then again... perhaps if I could invest fully in girlhood like that, I would feel more free to also spend time fully embracing masculinity? Without feeling that I'm endangering my skills as an onnagata. I... I do believe I'm going to give myself a headache if I keep thinking about this too much."

RanmaA couldn't help himself from laughing. "Well, I'm glad it ain't just me that finds it confusin'."

There were a few minutes of silence, RanmaA going back to reading his manga, when his counterpart spoke up again.

"I think I'd like having it in your position, though. Since you had no outlet to explore femininity without it. I'm pretty sure I'd go crazy if I were stuck with only the limited range of masculine clothing," the onnagata replied. "Plus, makeup and nail polish can be so much fun."

The exiled boy nodded.

* * *

RanmaA got caught up in helping with spending time backstage of the kabuki performances the next couple days, marvelling at the beauty of the stage. RanmaD tried to convince him to try out an onnagata costume at one point, but the exiled boy felt flustered about wearing something so expensive and intricate.

The distraction of kabuki, curiosity about the last 8 years of history, and poetry lessons from the kabuki troop (to hopefully pull out something close to RanmaD's ability to give compliments) quickly ate up the next week. He did end up with a rather good collection of photos, RanmaD having been quite enthusiastic about taking pictures of the group. Spending time with Akane and Shampoo was strange to him, as was watching RanmaD with Konatsu. Still, it was fun to hang out with them all.

Checking over the album as he knew his time in this peaceful world would be ending soon, RanmaA smiled to himself. This world was different enough, he'd always felt a little out of place, so leaving felt less painful than the others.

"You're really retiring?" Nodoka's voice asked from the room beside where RanmaA was.

"Shampoo has provided me with some Jusenkyo water. I'll be able to live as a woman completely. It would be improper to stay in Kabuki," Konatsu replied.

RanmaA hopped to his feet, curious as to just what was going on.

"I suppose that is true," Nodoka said, her voice showing she was still a bit confused.

RanmaA managed to slip in, and saw that is local counterpart was in the room as well.

"And, um... she's provided me with some too," RanmaD added.

"Are... are you planning to live as a woman as well?" Nodoka asked, sounding even more confused.

"No, no. At least, not full time? But, it feels like an opportunity to go all in from time to time? As well as a means to broaden my horizons? To truly have a chance to grasp the feminine perspective. And then, also explore in the opposite direction, able to gain a broader understanding of the range of being human," RanmaD explain poetically. Then game a shrug. "Also, the Jusenkyo Catalogue was having a buy two, get one free sale, so Shampoo offered to include me."

"You're gettin' a curse because it's free?" RanmaA asked.

The onnagata shrugged. "I'm curious, and it seemed like fun."

RanmaA was about to give a further reply, only to be interrupted by a flash of green.

"A darn it, I've gotta go!" RanmaA blurted, charging upstairs to grab his backpack and other supplies.

Returning downstairs to say his goodbyes, he Nodoka muttering about how this was too much at once. His local counterpart gave him a quick hug and a whisper of thanks. And then, to his surprise, Konatsu slipped forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Wha-what was—"

And then the exiled Ranma was pulled away.


	6. Chapter 5: Tendo School

**Chapter 5: Tendo School**

Falling seemed a common theme with these inter-universe arrivals. Luckily, instead of falling into a puddle or anything this time, the exiled lad found himself tumbling into someone's arms. Determining more took a moment as he tried to process the kiss he'd just received... had Konatsu lace her lipstick, or was he really _that_ bad with handling kisses?

Getting his bearings again, RanmaA realised he'd landed into the arms of a rather confused looking Ryoga. Beside them was the local Ranma, looking deeply confused. It took RanmaA a moment to realise that his local counterpart was wearing a Furinkan gakuran. Ryoga was similarly clad.

"Hi?" RanmaA offered.

"Uh... Who are you? And where did you just come from?" the local Ranma asked, looking up at the sky in confusion.

"It'll sound crazy, but, I'm... sorta you?" RanmaA offered. "I'm from another universe."

The exiled lad lifted his arm up to show the bracelet and gave the brief summary of how it got there and how it had him tumbling between worlds.

"Yeesh, that's annoying sounding," RanmaE said.

"It does sound annoying, but, uh... could I put you down now?" Ryoga asked, making RanmaA aware of the way he'd simply sat in Ryoga's arms as he'd explained.

"S-sorry!" he said, hopping down. "I just got so into the routine of explainin' and forgot that you were holding me up."

As he landed, he realised there was an odd looking fox at RanmaE's side. It seemed strangely serene, and a bit muted in colour compared to a red fox. There was also an intelligent sparkle to it's eyes that caught RanmaA's attention.

"Who's this, then?" RanmaA asked, leaning down to look at it.

There was something strangely familiar about the creature. The fox was calm for pops, and lacking in Shampoo's intensity. The lack of glasses seemed to rule out Mousse...

"Who—does Kasumi have a different curse in your world?" RanmaE asked.

RanmaA had to take a double take, looking back and forth between the fox and his local counterpart in confusion, both of them looking back with a similar level of confusion in their eyes. "K-Kasumi? How... how did you get a curse in-well, I guess I should ask you two how she got a curse since she can't talk right now?"

There was an accepting shrug from Kasumi.

"The normal way?" Ryoga replied. "Fell into a pond at Jusenkyo while her family was there."

"Her... why were the Tendos at Jusenkyo?" RanmaA asked.

"It was part of the training trip Soun dragged them all off on?" RanmaE explained.

The fox that was Kasumi nodded.

The local pair could clearly read the confusion on RanmaA's face, and offered to explain more on the walk back to the dojo. He was left quite startled to hear that, in this universe, Soun had been unable to stay in the home where his wife died and had left on a training journey with the girls to work through his grief. The Saotome family had been left to watch the dojo in the meantime, Genma taking up teaching (the idea of his father maintaining a steady job like running a dojo made RanmaA laugh a bit, and led to him explaining the usual schemes his own father had).

With extra bedrooms available, when Ryoga had accidentally wandered onto the property one day, Nodoka had eventually decided to all but adopt him, working something out with his (rather absent) parents. Genma had complained about the extra mouth to feed, but Nodoka had insisted they couldn't leave the poor lad on his own, and... apparently the local Ranma didn't have the most friends, so she felt having another boy around would be good for him. RanmaA couldn't help but feel for his counterpart on the struggles of making friends.

Then, about a year ago, the Tendos had run into Jusenkyo, and Soun had taken it as a sign to return home, and then engagement hijinks had started. It was clear from the yips she gave that Kasumi wanted to tell him about her own youth, and the adventures the Tendo family had managed to get up to, but her current form prevented that.

The locals were, obviously, quite interested in the exiled Ranma's story, from the few hints he gave here and there. He'd promised to give the full runthrough once they'd made it to the dojo and gathered everyone up, as well as telling them he had pictures of the other universes he'd visited.

"So," RanmaA said, as they neared the dojo, "I see Kasumi's turned into a fox, but what about the rest of the Tendos?"

He got a yip from Kasumi for that, which confused him a little.

"Ah, well, Kasumi's not just a fox, she's a Tibetan Fox more specifically," RanmaE explained, bending a little to give the cursed girl a scratch behind the ear.

"Mhm. Nabiki turns into a more run of the mill red fox," Ryoga added. "Everyone's pretty sure Nabiki's a kitsune, and I'm half convinced by them. She's certainly just as slippery."

That got a reprimanding yip out of Kasumi (apparently not thrilled to have her sister talked about like that), which led to an apology from Ryoga. RanmaA tried not to laugh at the idea of a fox able to hold such respect and dignity, even if she _was_ Kasumi. Things were quite a bit different in different universes, but some elements didn't change.

"Saotome!" a voice called out in a way that left a shiver running down RanmaA's spine.

Turning, he was greeted by a grinning Kuno running their way. He heard his local counterpart sigh, and couldn't help sharing the feeling.

"My charming prince, what a joyful encounter this..." Kuno said, trailing off as he noticed the exiled lad. "Praytell, who doth be this 2nd land with your moon-blessed good looks, with braided hair and foreign garb?"

"Wait... are you flirting with him?" RanmaA asked, as his local counterpart just buried his face in his palm.

"Yes? I hope to win his heart from this peasant, Hibiki," Kuno 'explained'.

"I'm very lost," RanmaA muttered.

The locals had mentioned engagement hijinks with the Tendos? Ryoga hadn't seemed jealous about the idea (and Ryoga was never subtle about jealousy). So... he wasn't sure what Kuno was talking about.

Turning, he swore both RanmaE and Ryoga looked about as tired by the nonsense, an expression RanmaA recognised from his own Akane back home when dealing with Kuno.

"For the millionth time, Kuno, Ranma and I aren't a thing," Ryoga said, he tone tired.

"Nonsense, if the dashing Ranma were single he'd have no reason to reject my flirtations," Kuno replied confidently. "Not that thou art a very good reason. I am, simply put, far more handsome."

"I've told you before, Kuno, I don't swing that way," RanmaE sighed.

"Nonsense, the entire school knows of your romance with Hibiki," Kuno countered dismissively. "Either way, this is ignoring my question of who this twin of yours is."

"None of your business," RanmaA said, kicking the annoying kendoist into the air to save himself a bit of a headache. Wiping his hands together, he then turned to the two locals. "I am a little curious about the rumour, though."

"That's just because this idiot can get lost if I'm not actually holding his hand some days, and rumours started," RanmaE said, pointing at Ryoga before pouting a bit.

"And then Ranma... uh, is it confusing to call him that?" Ryoga began, before getting confused.

"I understand what ya mean," RanmaA said.

"Right, yeah. So, Ranma beat him up a bunch because they're both competitive. Somehow Kuno got convinced that the rumours meant being gay made you a better fighter, and now he wants to date Ranma. And won't accept that we're not a thing, even though most of the school's figured out Ranma's got a fiancee now," Ryoga explained.

"I... I don't know if I want to know Kuno's logic in all that," RanmaA sighed.

"He's certain girls are weaker than guys, so thinks liking guys somehow makes you stronger," RanmaE said. "If he just wanted an excuse, I'd probably try to help him find a boyfriend to get him off my back, but... it's very obvious from how girls distract him that he's just being a sexist idiot."

RanmaA didn't know what to say. It fit the sort of deranged logic the Kuno he knew was capable of, but was still impressively nonsensical. He barely noticed that they reached the Tendo home as he tried to wonder what this Kuno would make of his curse. Or... was it the Saotome home here, if the Tendos had been away so long? The question distracted RanmaA for a moment, only to be pulled from the pointless wondering by a familiar, but slightly off, voice. Turning, he was greeted by a sight he still felt odd about: a male Akane, wearing androgynous Chinese silks not too different from his own.

"Why are there two of you?" the blue haired Tendo asked.

"He's from another universe. Apparently he has pictures and stuff," RanmaE explained.

The exiled lad only half paid attention, though. Was this lad Akane with a boy curse? Or a boy with another curse? Racking his mind, he swore RanmaE had said Soun had taken his 'daughters' training, so...

"So, you got a boy curse?" RanmaA asked, hoping desperately he was right.

That got a confused stare from the tall teen. "Uh, yeah? I... do I not where you... but then how did you recognise me?"

"Uh, well, one of the universes I was in had a bunch of people born the other sex from most of the ones I visited, so I knew what you'd look like," RamaA replied.

Akane nodded. "Huh. I... what curse do I have where you're from?"

"Uh, none?" RanmaA said. "None of your family do. It was pops and I who went travellin' in my universe."

"Really?" the girl-turned-boy asked, leaning in to give RanmaA a quick once over. "I wonder if that means you're any better than our Ranma at martial arts then."

"I don't know how good he is, but I know I'm pretty dang amazin'," the exiled lad snapped, a weird stew of feelings bubbling in his gut at the way this Akane was looking at him.

The biggest issue was probably the smile. That was Akane's mischief smile, something that had always made his heart flutter so. Yet, there was something that indicated this Akane didn't respect his skills at all. His competitive streak wanted to show her just how much respect he deserved.

"Ahem, well, let's go gather everyone up," Ryoga said, seeming a little nervous as he did so.

"Right, yeah. I'll get my pictures ready," RanmaA added, heading into the living room.

He set off, finding the living room empty, and began pulling the album out of his backpack to prepare the explanation. It only took a couple minutes for everyone to be gathered, including Kasumi returning to her human form. RanmaA felt it was a safe bet that the mustachioed monkey on the local Genma's shoulder had to be Soun (what type of monkey he was, Ranma couldn't guess, only knowing that it _wasn't_ a macaque, like the monkeys of Japan). He also couldn't help wondering a little about this Akane staying in cursed form, but did understand that going through the whole process of a bath could get annoying.

"Wow, he really does look just like you," Nodoka said to the local Ranma as she sat down beside him.

"I still think the loose ponytail looks better though," RanmaE muttered.

"Looks like he goes to the same clothing section as little bro," Nabiki said, leaning on her elbow.

That got a smack to her head from Akane, and a mess of bickering between the two.

Not wanting to get into that, RanmaA cleared his throat. "So, I've gathered everyone up to save me on explanation rounds. As you can probably tell, I'm also Saotome Ranma. I'm here from another universe due to a cursed bracelet. The biggest difference between my universe and this one seems to be that where I'm from the Tendo family stayed home, while my dad dragged me off on a training trip and off to Jusenkyo instead."

"You're cursed? I've gotta see that," Nabiki said, interest sparking in her eyes before she produced a glass of water and tossed it in his face.

Damp, shorter, and redheaded, Ranma brushed some hair out of his face. "You're a bit more impulsive than the Nabikis I've met so far, you know that?"

A few of the assembled audience muttered about his having a girl curse, when someone's comment of 'cute' shook everyone from their confusion. And put all their eyes on who'd said it: Ryoga.

Blushing, the fanged boy did his best effort to shrink into a ball. "I mean, objectively, the curse makes him cute... it's not weird to say?"

"Not weird at all, I'm a babe," RanmaA replied with a casual shrug and a confident smile.

He noticed an eye twitch from his local counterpart, and wondered about what that might mean... he had his suspicions, going off recent experience, but wasn't sure just yet.

"You're rather casual about that curse of yours," the local Akane said, her eyes narrowing as she stared down at him.

"Hey there's advantages to this form, just like there's advantages to your current form. Ranko explained plenty of that to me," RanmaA replied.

"Ranko?" several people asked.

The exiled boy used that as a chance to move into discussing the universes he'd visited, explaining the various adventures. The pictures had definitely proven popular, and made RanmaA wish he'd had any of the first world he'd visited. It surprised him when this Akane turned bright red at the picture of her counterpart posing with Shampoo.

"Don't tell me, Shampoo's chasing after you in this world?" Ranma asked, looking up at the cursed girl.

"Well, yeah... but, she seems to want me to be a guy. If she was fine with me being a girl I wouldn't..." the male formed Akane began, before realising what she was saying and turning more red than before.

A little while ago, that confession would have gotten a lot more of a response out of the exiled lad, but he was coming to suspect that Akanes liked other girls far more than he'd ever realised before.

"I keep saying, just marry her, and then see how it goes," Nabiki said with a grin.

"You're just saying that to make sure you get forgiven for what you tried to steal from her village," Akane shot back.

"Just because the advice benefits me too doesn't mean it's bad," Nabiki replied, still grinning.

Suddenly, Akane lunged across the table at Nabiki, who dodged at the last moment. The boy-formed Akane chased after her, and the pair were quickly out of sight, though not out of earshot as everyone heard the crashing and banging of the pair yelling at each other.

"Are... are they always like that?" RanmaA asked.

The small monkey that he'd assumed was Soun produced a small signpost that read: #Indeed. They were always a handful.#

"I usually stop them, but Nabiki has been being a bit extra troublesome lately, so I'll stay out of this this time," Kasumi said softly, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

RanmaA wasn't sure how to respond to this very different Tendo family dynamic. Well, not that Akane and Nabiki arguing was too strange, but them actually fighting was certainly new. Before he knew it, there was a 'sploosh' noise, followed by Akane (still in male form) carrying a rather damp looking and grumpy red fox by the scruff of its neck. The cold anger in the eyes was so unquestionably Nabiki.

"She won't be giving much sass for a while," the handsome teen said, sitting down with the vulpine Nabiki firmly pinned.

"She doesn't bite, does she?" RanmaA asked, eyeing fox-Nabiki wearily.

"Nah. She's too gourmet for that," the handsome Akane replied, speech even less feminine sounding that the Akane the exiled boy knew from home.

The fox formed Nabiki seemed to sink into pouting while getting handed over to Kasumi. It was then that Akane turned back to the exiled boy with a sparkle in those brown eyes.

"Anyway, you trained all over the country like we did, right?" Akane asked, getting a nod from RanmaA. "So, let's see if you've managed to be any good with your more intense training. I'm all warmed up and ready for some sparring."

The exiled lad saw his local counterpart muttering at this Akane's dismissal of his abilities and decided both their prides were on the line.

"You're on," RanmaA said, hopping to his feet.

The pair were halfway to the dojo when RanmaA realised something a bit unfair about the current match up.

"We need to get one of us a kettle first," RanmaA muttered.

The cursed girl looked down at him, confused for a moment before she clued in to just how far she was looking down. "Oh, yeah. That's a major reach gap. I'll be a second."

RanmaA nodded and continued on to the dojo, glad this house was familiar. As he stretched a little, he wasn't overly surprised to see the rest of the household shuffle in, finding a place to sit while they waited for Akane to arrive. A moment later, she appeared, female and with a kettle in hand.

"I figure it's fairest for us to both be in birth form," she said, walking over.

"Uh, well... maybe it's more fair if we're both girls?" RanmaA replied.

The idea of sparring with a girl as a girl had never bothered him _too_ much, but as a guy... that he'd never liked.

"Well, if you're confident you can take me without the boosted testosterone then I'm fine with it," Akane said with a shrug.

The exiled lad couldn't deny that he was getting feelings of bravado off this Akane. Combined with a confident fighting spirit, he couldn't help smiling to himself as the pair bowed. This certainly seemed like it would be a good spar.

He saw Akane was waiting for him to open, a smart move with the defensive skills of the Tendo style. He decided to launch a light probing effort, and Akane deflected it easily. The grin on her face... she wasn't like the other Akanes he knew, hunting for reassurance on her skills. She was good and she _knew it_. He felt encouraged to try a few more jabs, wanting to see just how good she was.

Things quickly escalated, until RanmaA was finding himself fighting with all the intensity he usually needed for when Ryoga got serious back home. He had mobility on her, which meant he was getting to choose when they clashed, but it was beginning to get rather tiring. He decided his best hope was to go for a surprise tactic, charging in low, and going in for one of the grapple's he'd learned off of Kaneda. The surprise element seemed to balance out his inexperience with the move, and, with the last of his energy, he managed to get Akane down in an arm pin. Akane struggled for a moment before tapping out.

Genma and Nodoka both burst into applause, apparently thinking the exiled lad's abilities somehow reflected positively on them. The local Ranma's reaction was much harder to read

"Phew, you're pretty good," Akane said as RanmaA backed off, both panting. "Did... did another me teach you that pin? It's... one of my favourites."

"Yeah... still getting a hang of it myself," the exiled boy explained while catching his breath.

"It's neat to see the Saotome style so cleaned up, I've got to say," Akane replied, now having, more or less, caught her breath. "How long are you going to be here for again? We should probably get you teaching our Ranma a bit."

"Probably two weeks?" RanmaA said. "Are you not trainin' him much?"

"Why would I be?" Akane asked as she hopped up on her feet.

"Well, if you're going to end up running the dojo together, I figured you'd want him ta be on your level?" the exiled Ranma replied.

That resulted in him getting confused stares from pretty well everyone.

"Uh, it would actually be Ranma and myself who will be taking over," Kasumi said, a slightly strained smile on her face. "We would love for Akane to stay and help, though."

"Wait, you and," RanmaA muttered, before blushing a bit. "I need to stop assumin' things'll be like back home."

Akane and the local Ranma both twitched a little at that before turning to glare at one another.

"What do you say we order in some food as a welcoming party?" Nodoka suddenly offered in a rather loud voice.

"Ooh, what a good idea!" Genma replied, seeming oblivious to _why_ Nodoka was bringing it up. "I'm in a fried chicken mood myself."

* * *

After dinner, RanmaA ended up spending most of the evening going over school notes with Ryoga (who had surprisingly thorough notes, even if they were a mess of arrows and circles to try to guide your eyes). The lessons seemed a bit different from what the exiled lad remembered, but he was able to follow most of it.

"Um, I just want to check what this kanji's supposed for my notes," RanmaA said, looking up at Ryoga.

"Oh, uh... I'll... I'll write it out cleaner," Ryoga muttered, his cheeks bright red.

The exiled lad blinked, a little confused, before looking down at his quite generous chest. "Riiight. That's why you're being so thorough with helping me. Always a sucker for the cute girls."

"I, er... it's the right thing to do either way," Ryoga protested, though he was unable to meet RanmaA's eyes as he said it.

"You're kind of making me wish my Ryoga went to Furinkan too. I'd have been able to con him into doing my homework so easy," the exiled boy said, batting his eyelashes a little.

Seeing Ryoga's blush worsen, RanmaA couldn't help laughing. Messing with Ryoga was too fun.

"Ah, Ra—Ranma? I... it's so strange calling you that," Kasumi's voice said in a soft tone.

"Yeah, I still don't have a good solution for that just yet," the exiled boy said, turning towards Kasumi. "Anyway, what up?"

"Well, it's getting late, and auntie Nodoka wanted me to show you where you were going to be sleeping," Kasumi replied.

RanmaA hopped to his feet to follow Kasumi to the stairs. "I figured I'd be crashing in the local me's room?"

"Ah, well... no. Uncle Genma felt it was for the best if you didn't," she said, before her voice dropped to a whisper. "He admits that your fighting skills are impressive, but isn't sure he wants you around Ra-our Ranma with your... condition."

"Condition? Like... the curse? I can change back to guy mode?" he replied, keeping to the quiet tone Kasumi had chosen, even if he wasn't sure why.

"I'm not sure that would be enough for him," Kasumi said, shaking her head a little. "He's a touch... no, it's not my place to say. But, it was decided you'll be staying in Akane's room instead. As long as you're a girl or she's a boy."

"Uh... is she okay with that?" RanmaA asked, cheeks going hot.

"If you follow the rules set out, she's agreed to it," Kasumi explained, leading him along.

RanmaA had to do a double take as he realised the room they'd walked to was not the one he was used to Akane having. In fact, it was Kasumi's room from most universes he'd seen. He supposed it made sense, though. If he'd had his choice of any room, he'd have gone for Akane's normal room, so, presumably, his local counterpart had done the same. Who could resist the option with the balcony?

As he'd thought it over, Kasumi had knocked on the door, and Akane had answered a moment later. A sheepish smile later and she'd led him into the room, two futons set up on opposite ends of the floor.

"So, um... do you have girl pjs, or should I be sleeping in guy mode?" Akane asked.

RanmaA had set down his backpack and was starting the dig through it to grab something to sleep and decided to offer a shrug. "I can sleep in the same stuff in either mode. I'm honestly pretty new to the whole 'pijamas' concept. Usually had a minimum of clothes. Kind of back to that with this whole exile thing now."

"Ah, yeah. My sisters and I were pretty much in the same camp. Your m-uh, our Nodoka decided that wasn't proper for young girls though," Akane replied. "Of course I have to buy everything baggy because of the curse."

"I approve of the Chinese silks look though," RanmaA offered, trying to lighten the mood.

Akane gave a dry and sarcastic laugh.

* * *

The next morning, the exiled lad found himself up early, Akane wanting to do a bit more training together. Acknowledging that RanmaA was still a bit awkward about co-ed sparring, this time the pair sparring in male form. Akane won this round, though both were feeling a bit less competitive.

Breakfast was rather less chaotic than the exiled Ranma had expected. Sure, dinner the night before hadn't been too bad, but that had been delivery, which had always led to good behaviour back home. However, it turned out that the Tendo family had apparently maintained manners in their travels. At least, apart from Nabiki, who made some attempts to be sneaky and steal food. The glare she got when caught by Nodoka or Kasumi told RanmaA not to join in.

After breakfast, and a quick bath, RanmaA was being dragged off to school, a bit sad he wouldn't get a day off to adapt.

* * *

School had been weird again. So many faces he knew, and people that knew his face, but no one really knew _him_. After school there had been a bit of a surprise as Ukyo had dragged Nabiki off to help with the restaurant, it being explained that the Tendos had met her roughly the same age RanmaA had in his own timeline, but, when they parted, it had been Nabiki who'd stolen from the Kuonji family, grabbing several recipes and a decent amount of cash which the rest of the Tendo family hadn't learned about until it was too late to return it. Soun had also decided it was safest to take a nice detour to Hokkaido to be on the safe side, to the horror of Kasumi. (RanmaA supposed he _had_ studied under the same master as Genma, so one could only expect so much from him.)

Returning 'home', the exiled boy was surprised to find himself and his local counterpart dragged off to the dojo by Genma. Both were confused as Genma directed them to the middle of the sparring area.

"This domestic city life turned me too soft, just like I told Nodoka it would. It shows in the way my son has ended up so weak, unable to defeat any of Tendo-kun's daughters in sparring," Genma began, having flipped some light switched to ensure more dramatic lighting. "It pains me to admit it, but... I need you to train my son. Despite your condition, there's no arguing with your abilities."

RanmaA's eye twitched. "My condition..."

Genma nodded. "Your comfort with your curse is a bit unbecoming of a young man, and I would definitely have words for your parents if I could, but I can't. So I will simply take advantage of your skills while you're available."

RanmaA glanced at his local counterpart, curious what his response to all this was, and saw RanmaE was busy glaring at the ground and... almost looked like he was trying to hold back tears.

"Well, if he _wants_ ta train with me, I'll do it. If he doesn't, then—" RanmaA began.

"I want to train!" RanmaE blurted. "I'm tired of being considered weak and a liability for the future of the dojo."

The impression that he was holding back tears seemed stronger to RanmaA now, though there was definitely a rage mixed in.

Genma smiled and gave a cheerful laugh. "Haha, that's my boy. Show him you have the fire needed."

RanmaA hopped to his feet and walked over to the centre of the sparring area. "Alright, then. Let's see what you've got."

RanmaE scrambled to his feet to meet his exiled counterpart and slipped into a fighting stance. There was a sloppiness that reminded RanmaA of something, but he couldn't quite place it. A few probing strikes later, and RanmaE tried to take the offensive. The style wasn't _bad_ , and RanmaA could see how he'd managed to defeat Kuno with effective dodging skills, but he just wasn't on the level the exiled boy was on.

As RanmaA landed an easy strike to his counterpart's solar plexus, he realised just what RanmaE's style was reminding him of: Akane. Well, specifically his Akane back home, both being marked trying too hard to seem capable of fighting on a level above their own. Overdoing strikes and leaving themselves open for counter attacks constantly... was living a domestic life really so terrible for martial arts abilities? Or, maybe it was the issue of parents running a dojo, compared to the more direct approach of one teacher for a small handful of dedicated students. RanmaA wasn't sure, but there was one thing that struck him as a positive in all this.

"You've got quite a bit to learn, but you'll be a good guinea pig for me learnin' how to teach," RanmaA said with a grin as his local counterpart panted.

"Guinea pig? Why am I a good guinea pig?" RanmaE asked.

"The way my pops taught me drove me nuts, and I've been worried if I do anything too close to what he did, whoever I teach will hate me. But that's not really a risk for you, since I _am_ you, sorta... and I'm gone in two weeks anyhow," RanmaA explained.

RanmaE grimaced as Genma laughed.

"Be as ruthless as you need. The boy deserves a crash course," Genma declared. "Well, I have some paperwork to deal with, running a dojo can be a headache. You two have fun training."

RanmaA gave a two finger salute until Genma was out of earshot. He let out a sigh, and turned to his local counterpart.

"So, pops really hates my curse," the exiled boy said in an innocent tone as he flopped down to sit beside RanmaE. "Any specific reason for that?"

RanmaE's cheeks went red. "I-it's because of the rumours about me an' Ryoga."

RanmaA nodded slowly. "And... just that? No old habits of playin' dress up or anythin'?"

"What? I—how did you... right. Of course _you'd_ know about those... but, ma says it's nothin' too weird for a kid?" RanmaE muttered, studying the floor.

The exiled boy shrugged. "What's it matter if it's weird or not? The last universe I was in the us there was an onnagata. It's... well maybe not in our 'blood', but seems at least in our nature or... somethin' like that? And, well, Ranko was a major tomboy. More than my Akane, and maybe able to rival yours."

"I ain't girly like that," RanmaE snapped. "I... I kind of tried, back in early middle school with Ryoga. Sneaking off to see movies and whatnot with him. Seeing if I liked guys like _that_ , and I didn't. Probably didn't help the rumours though..."

RanmaA could only blink for a moment. "W-what's that got to do with anything?"

"Pardon?"

"Likin' guys and likin' girly stuff are two totally different things, ya doofus," RanmaA said, poking his local counterpart in the temple. "I showed ya pictures of Kaneda and Ryoga in that other universe, right? They were both about as guyish as could be, apart for Kaneda havin' a soft spot for cute animals. Plus, most of the Konatsus I've met seem to prefer girls, or... well, or us..."

RanmaA couldn't continue, memories of the kiss he'd received filling his mind. Memories that made him feel like his love life would, somehow, be more complicated when he got home.

"W-well, we'll see what Kasumi says, maybe?" RanmaE offered quietly.

"Yeah, alright. Well, let's get back to running through some drills. I've got some tips I want to give ya," RanmaA said, hopping to his feet.

Martial arts were so much easier than all this emotion stuff he kept confronting in every universe.

* * *

It wasn't until the next evening that RanmaA got a chance to speak to Kasumi in private. Apparently Nabiki had to work extra hours at Ucchan's on Friday evenings, which meant he had a chance to find the eldest Tendo girl alone in her room, apparently reading some cooking magazines when she'd told him he could come in.

"Ah, Ranma-kun. How can I help you?" Kasumi asked, having decided earlier in the day that sliding in an honorific helped distinguish him from _her_ Ranma.

RanmaA slid the door shut behind him and moved quietly to sit on the floor not far from Kasumi's futon. He kept to a quiet tone to ensure they wouldn't be overheard.

"Wh-er, have you heard of instant Jusenkyo powder?" RanmaA whispered.

Kasumi nodded. "Oh yes. There was girl spring powder that Shampoo used to blackmail Akane one time, saying she'd give enough for either Nabiki or myself if Akane went on a date with her. It was only good for one dose though?"

"Y-yeah. It's kind of useless if a girl with a curse uses girl powder or a guy with a curse uses guy powder, but, say somebody used powder for a different curse? Or wasn't cursed at all and used it? Then it's got some uses," RanmaA said, still a bit nervous about explaining the plan.

"Oh my, yes. That sounds like it could be interesting. I'm not sure what it has to do with myself though? Are you thinking it would comfort Akane if I used male powder?" Kasumi asked. "I-I'm sorry to say, but I', not quite sure how I feel about that."

"No, no... that wasn't the idea. Though, not that ya mention it, it might not be half bad as a plan... ah, but anyway, the idea was actually for your Ranma to maybe try a little girl powder?" RanmaA said, feeling like he was at risk of losing confidence in admitting the plan to anyone else.

To his utter bewilderment, Kasumi lit up with a smile. "Has he accepted the idea? I'd thought it might be good for him for a while, but wasn't sure how to bring it up."

The exiled boy could only stare. She wasn't surprised? And already supportive?

"Ah, yes. I suppose I should mention that, when we moved in he and Akane butted heads worse than they do now. I had asked auntie Nodoka if she had any ideas what might be driving things. After a few months she remembered some old photo albums of young Ranma playing dress up. We both discussed it and wondered if he might be having issues of jealousy," Kasumi explained. "I had slowly begun to wonder if getting him a curse would help, but it was such a permanent option to test..."

"Uh... yeah. That's... that's pretty well my logic too," RanmaA said.

"I _do_ worry how uncle Genma would respond, but I much prefer the idea of a husband who's happier with himself, and don't mind one a bit in touch with his feminine side," Kasumi said, a soft smile on her face.

"Well, this version of pops seems like he's managed to be more of a grumpy jerk than mine back home, _somehow_ ," RanmaA muttered, "so, I kind of like the idea of ticking him off."

A mischievous grin spread across Kasumi's face. "I might agree, just a little bit."

* * *

RanmaA was waiting patiently in the school yard at the end of the short Saturday school day, a bit excited about getting his local counterpart instant Jusenkyo powder, when it started to rain. He felt like laughing a little, getting the feeling he'd had at Jusenkyo once again: that calm acceptance of the curse as part of him.

"I forgot my umbrella," Akane said, stepping up beside him and shifting to male form as she did so.

"I should probably get my hands on one. Or a poncho," RanmaA said, looking up at her, just a smidge self conscious about the height gap.

What he couldn't deny, though, was liking her face still. Something about her expression was still so definitely Akane, he couldn't deny to himself that she was still cute.

"Tendo! My gorgeous and fierce prince!" Kuno's voice shouted out, causing both cursed teens to jump a little.

"Not now Kuno, please," Akane muttered, shoulders slumping.

"Surely any time is a good one to confess my love to you, oh handsome rogue," Kuno declared as he dropped on one knee at Akane's foot. "Let me place but one kiss upon your hand and I could die a happy man."

Akane was squirming visibly, and he couldn't blame her. Being flirted with by Kuno while having one's actual identity ignored was infuriating. Surely it was even worse for her, with the way he'd seen the other girls avoid her the last couple days.

"Dear, who is this guy?" Ranma asked, slipping in next to Akane with the cutest body language he could manage. "And why does he want to kiss your hand?"

Akane looked confused, but that was no surprise. It was also something Ranma had always found so very cute, even now with her masculine face.

Kuno's face, meanwhile, was a mix of confusion and revulsion.

"Who art thou, vixen?"

"I'm Tendo's girlfriend," RanmaA said, his cheeks getting a little hot as he did so.

Even if this Akane wasn't technically his fiancee, and girlfriend didn't feel like the right term for him, it was still close enough to the truth to get to him.

"Lies! I know well that Tendo has no interest in the weaker sex. I have seen his rejection of that foreign temptress, as well as mine own foolish sister," Kuno hissed back, standing up to glare down at the redhead's diminutive form.

"Sh-she's telling the truth," Akane stuttered, grabbing RanmaA's hand a little too tightly to confirm things. "I've rejected those other girls because I promised myself to her years ago. She just... uh..."

"I live in Kagoshima, so I haven't been able to visit much," RanmaA filled in, glaring up at Kuno.

"Hah, a simple deception. Thou have no proof of thine claim!" Kuno snapped, meeting the redhead's glare.

Turning, RanmaA looked to Akane, trying to think of something he could do to seem like a proper girlfriend... a kiss on the cheek! That could do it!

Leaning upwards, he puckered his lips, closed his eyes, and tried not to think about it. In Europe people did this sort of stuff with friends after all. It was no big—those were lips. He hadn't contacted with a cheek, like he'd planned.

Opening his eyes, he saw Akane's eyes looking just as confused. She must have turned while his eyes were closed...

The pair broke the kiss about as soon as they'd processed what was happening (which, to be honest, took a while), and were left staring at each other for a few moments before a pained gasp from Kuno drew their attention. Turning, they saw a look of horror on his face.

"T-temptress! Thou... though hath defiled him!" Kuno shouted, before turning and running off, shouting vaguely poetic nonsense about 'sorrowful days'.

"W-well... it worked," RanmaA muttered, trying desperately to calm his heart.

He'd just kissed Akane. Not his Akane, but still... _an_ Akane. Something he'd dreamt of for months... maybe a full year? Sure, it had gone a little sideways, but Akane was Akane. The slightly sad and lonely eyes were the same.

"I... I was only going to go for a kiss on the cheek," Akane whispered.

"I was aiming for the same," RanmaA replied, still feeling lost in Akane's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Akane asked.

"Uhh..." was all RanmaA could manage at first. "I..."

"Oh gosh, don't tell me that was your first kiss," Akane gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry."

"What? No-no! It was just my first time kissing you... well, _a_ you," RanmaA said. "And, well..."

Akane paled, standing up to full masculine height. "Oh no, and I made it so awkward with my curse."

"Curse? What... How did I forgot about that?" the exiled boy muttered, his cheeks going hot. "I... you just still kissed like a girl."

"I did?" Akane asked, before a realisation spread on her face, mixed with what seemed like a bit of anger. "Wait, if you haven't kissed your fiancee, what are you doing knowing so much about kisses?"

"Uh, well... there was that Mikado guy. And then Ranko's Ryoga surprised me with one. For girls, I think it's just Konatsu from the last world I was in," RanmaA replied. "You were definitely closer to her style."

Akane gave a soft smile that made the exiled lad's heart flutter.

"So, uh, are you two done?" Ryoga's voice asked, closer than RanmaA had been ready for.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry," Akane said. "We got a little distracted. Is Kasumi here so we can go over to the Neko Hanten?"

"They left, like... 5 minutes ago while you two were being blushy messes," Ryoga said. "They left me here to keep an eye on you two, just in case you didn't snap out of it."

Akane went bright red, the reason why eluding RanmaA. At least until she muttered 'Kasumi saw?' and it hit him how things were weird from her side. He was basically her future brother-in-law here, and yet was unable to keep from looking at her. And, more importantly, Akane and this world's Ranma really didn't get along that well. Should... should her apologise?

"Wait. They left? I wanted to be there to help him with it," RanmaA asked, as other information processed in his brain.

"Yeah. Ranma said he kind of liked going with just Kasumi the first time before leaving," Ryoga said. "Also, did you two want to go get a kettle to do that kiss the right way around?"

The pair blushed furiously, stammering unclear defenses.

* * *

Late in the evening, RanmaA was out in the Tendo yard with Ryoga. The latter had been giving the exiled boy some more tutoring, while both were enjoying a bit of fresh air. They'd gotten a bit distracted, however, by Ryoga's curiosity of himself in other worlds. RanmaA was busy explaining Akari's sumo pigs when the back gate opened up.

Turning, they saw Kasumi and RanmaE, the latter a blushing mess, though in male form.

"Hey, how was it?" RanmaA asked.

"It was... different," RanmaE said, eyes looking guilty. "I... I think I liked it, though."

Kasumi gave a soft smile of her own. "He was very cute, I must say. It was nice to see him looking so free from his father's expectations."

"I don't know the next time I'll do that, but it was a nice escape from trying to live up to dad's expectations," RanmaE said. "Makes me feel freer to, just, do what I want."

"Yeah, that makes sense," RanmaA said. "Actual physical changes take a while ta get used to."

"I also definitely prefer not to have the confusion of you wandering around looking as cute as he does," Ryoga added, point a thumb at RanmaA.

"You two seem to almost be brothers. Just think of him as a little sister instead," the exiled boy said, following it up with laughter.

The others just stared at him in confusion.

* * *

The night had been awkward. RanmaA and Akane both unsure how to talk about the earlier kiss while having to share a room. At least their futons were on opposite ends of the small bedroom, so they could ignore each other fairly well.

The exiled Ranma had slept in a bit, enjoying the break of Sunday morning, before heading down to spar a bit with Ryoga and the local Ranma. Seeing this Ryoga using Saotome style Anything Goes was certainly interesting, though he seemed much less into the whole martial arts thing than the Ryoga RanmaA remembered. Running them through some drills, RanmaE did a respectable effort, though kept pushing himself a little too much, while Ryoga followed instructions and little more. The exiled lad wasn't completely in the headspace of teaching either, his mind still thinking about this kiss the day before.

After a quick wash up, he wandered off to hunt for a snack, trying to distract himself. Then he turned around, an onigiri in his mouth, to find himself face to face with Akane, some gentle makeup on her face and a cute hair clip in her very short hair. RanmaA wasn't sure what it did in hair that short, but it was definitely a nice look.

"H-hi," Akane said, big eyes looking up at him.

"Hi?" RanmaA replied, swallowing the onigiri.

"Um... would you want to go out for burgers or something?"

"Burgers? I... uh, sure? Should I get a nicer outfit, or... something?" RanmaA asked, feeling like Akane was definitely better dressed than him right now.

"If-if you have anything? I wasn't sure how many outfits you had," Akane said.

"The last world actually gave me a couple really nice outfits. Movie star connections and all that," RanmaA said, before looking around nervously. "Um... is there a special occasion for all this? It's just... not the easiest to keep track of dates right now."

"N-no occasion. I just wanted to talk with you a bit," Akane replied, a blush growing on her cheeks.

"Oh. Y-yeah, sure. Just give me a second to get changed," RanmaA said, his cheeks hot as he scurried off.

* * *

Walking down the busy commercial street beside Akane, the exiled boy had no idea what to say. She'd said she wanted to talk, but they were just walking along beside one another. Not that he didn't like her company, but he had to admit to feeling on edge about when the conversation would start.

"That's the burger place, just there," Akane said, finally breaking the silence. "I found it a couple months after moving her, and the prices are really good."

The exiled boy nodded, smiling a little at how it was the burger store Akane back home had always loved. She'd always talked about the memories she had with it. So, it was nice to see this Akane had found happiness from the same place.

The line at the burger joint was short, and RanmaA followed Akane over to the park where the pair ate quietly for a few moments. The exiled boy was glad he was in guy mode, the jumbo burgers were always messy to eat and he got so many weird looks in girl mode as he tore into them.

"What's she like?" Akane said out of the blue, while RanmaA's mouth was full.

"Hrm?" was all he could manage as he tried to quickly chew so he could swallow.

"Your Akane. Since she stayed at home, and didn't grow up as feral as I've ended up."

"Feral? You're not... well, at least you're not any more feral than I am," the exiled boy said with a weak smile. "But... you're still a lot like her. Only, I think you've got a bit more confidence."

"Really?" Akane asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I think the difference between you and her is a lot like the difference I've seen between me and the me here," the exiled boy explained. "Not quite exactly, but, might give you a basic idea?"

"Is her tempter really that bad?" Akane asked.

"What? I... is the me here really that grumpy?" RanmaA asked.

"Generally. Though he's been on better behaviour the last few days," Akane explained. "I guess you've given him a role model."

The exiled boy couldn't help grinning at that. "I'm a pretty good one of those... honestly, I think my Akane back home would like you too. Though, she'd probably be confused about your curse. She's... well, a little defensive about her femininity."

"I can understand that," Akane said. "Though, I'm not sure why she'd be so defensive?"

"She got a crush on Dr. Tofu in middle school, but he liked Kasumi," RanmaA explained. "She tried to copy Kasumi's femininity, and abandon her tomboyishness. Didn't quite manage it, and claims to have given up, but she still keeps trying to be super girly sometimes."

It was only as he finished that he realised this Akane was staring at him. He was rather confused as to the _why_ and, apparently, that confusion was quite visible on his face as she burst out into laughter. It felt like a good minute before she was able to get the fit of laughing under control, a minute the exiled boy spent feeling furiously embarrassed.

"S-sorry, it's just... just... I guess some things are destiny or something," Akane finally explained. "Part of the reason I've been so flustered about _your_ attention is how the Ranma here likes my Kasumi, and the feeling that, if you like me, then maybe my girlhood isn't a lost cause."

RanmaA's cheeks went hot as he found himself unable to respond. Something just _that_ honest out of her had overpowered his thoughts.

"It's kind of silly, I guess. Trying to live up to Kasumi's perfect model," Akane said, a slightly broken smile mixing with saddened eyes.

"It ain't silly," RanmaA blurted, not sure what to say to follow that up. "I, mean... I kept tryin' to meet pops' ideals as a kid, until I realised he was two faced and lyin' through his teeth. Then, uh, Ranko was trying to live up to the ideal she was told her mom was. We look up ta people and we want to match 'em."

Akane turned to him, a soft happiness in her eyes. "Thank you... that was nice to hear."

"Phew, I was worried I was just ramblin'," the exiled boy said, letting out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

"Maybe a little, but it was honest," Akane said, cracking out the trademark Tendo smile.

RanmaA couldn't help blushing and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She was just too cute for him to process.

Then, to his surprise, Akane's face was mere centimetres from his own, a blush on her cheeks.

"C-can we try that kiss again? Just... the right way around this time?" she asked.

"Kiss? A-again? I... that's," RanmaA stammered, wanting to say yes right now, but his tongue thoroughly twisted.

"I... I'd normally take things slower, but... you're only here for another week or so. I can't wait," Akane said. "You're one of only two people, other than Kasumi and dad, who's seemed able to treat me as a girl since I got this curse, and I don't want to let the chance slip past."

"U-uh, th-that... I wanna, but it feels like... like cheatin' on my Akane back home," RanmaA protested.

Akane's eyes dropped for a moment, her mouth scrunching up in thought. "I... would you be jealous if she spent a little time with another you?"

The exiled boy blinked, unsure how he'd feel. It'd be his own charms still winning out, right? So, as long as it didn't turn out to be an evil version of himself, then how could he really be angry?

"I guess I wouldn't mine too much, but... I'm less jealous than she is," he replied, after thinking it over.

"Well then, I... um... I was hoping I'd have a smooth reply, but now that I'm here I don't really know the smooth way to ask for a kiss now," Akane said, grimacing just a little.

"You're really just as much of a dork as she is," RanmaA replied, unable to keep from messing her hair up a little as she looked so frazzled.

"So, is that yes?" Akane asked, pouting a little.

"I... I guess, yeah?" he stuttered. How could he say no to Akane when she was being _that_ cute? Even if she was a different Akane...

Lighting up, Akane turned back to him, leaning in once again. With her lips mere centimetres from his, she froze. She looked like she was trying to move forward, but was too nervous. The exiled boy tried to move ahead himself, only to freeze himself, until he closed his eyes and moved forward on hope.

Strangely, the kiss felt surprisingly similar to the previous one. The height ratio was different, and it lasted longer, but it still felt like nervousness dominated anything else. Still, it was nice enough, and the exiled Ranma didn't want it to end as Akane slowly broke away.

"That was nice," Akane said.

"Yeah," RanmaA muttered, unable to handle any thought more complex.

* * *

The walk home had been a little surreal, the lost boy still processing that he'd finally, properly, kissed Akane.

It was only as home came into view that something struck him.

"Who was the other person that could see you as a girl?" RanmaA asked, turning to Akane.

She froze a moment, blinking. "Oh, um... it was Herb. Did you meet him?"

"Oh, yeah... I _met_ him. Was quite the jerk," he said, probably coming across a little angrier than he'd planned.

"Yeah, he was definitely in need of some manners. Still, it was a little tempting to have a prince propose to me," Akane admitted. "Though, I'm still not sure he actually understood what a girl is."

"I guess I could see that," the exiled boy said with a shrug.

It was weird, feeling a bit of jealousy bubbling in his gut over something that happened while he wasn't even in this universe.

* * *

Sharing a room with Akane now was even stranger, but he rather liked it. He still had to sleep on the other side of the room, however, after waking up with several bruises the night they'd tried a bit of cuddling.

School, on the other hand, was just school. Though Hiroshi and Daisuke were still a little more annoying than usual, seemingly not convinced he was really a guy. They _did_ however fear Akane's defensiveness of him, knowing what she was capable of. Being defended from guys by her was still weird, even if it wasn't the first time it had ever happened.

Outside of school, things were much more fun. Sparring with basically everyone was something of a dream come true, even if Nabiki did everything she could to cheat. The local Ranma was making decent progress, while Kasumi and Akane were picking things up a bit faster and Akane seemed to be picking up the core philosophy difference enough that she could probably figure out how to match the style on her own. He also felt like he was picking up a better understanding of the Tendo style (Soun had never been the best as explaining it back home), and felt excited to get to teach that to Akane back home.

There'd also been an interesting sparring match to watch when Genma had protested at the local Ranma's request to help with cooking, only to get teamed up on by his son and Kasumi. RanmaA and Akane had watched ready to help out the whole time.

It was all very strange, though. He had definitely fallen for this Akane, yet still missed his own. It made him wonder more and more if the time he was spending with her was technically cheating or not. He was already so bad at romantic norms, interdimensional ethics wasn't something he was ready to handle. Taking pictures of everyone was a good distraction. He liked the idea of showing Kasumi and Nabiki as foxes to everyone.

* * *

A weird sensation struck the exiled Ranma as he slept. Jolting awake, he saw the green pulse of his bracelet.

"Seriously? It's the middle of the night."

Another brief flash left him groaning while he scrambled to shove anything he'd taken out back into his backpack.

"Huh? Whus goin' on?" Akane asked, clearly still more asleep than awake.

"Apparently I'm leaving," the redhead replied, only able to grimace and hope Akane couldn't see too well.

Her form shot up in an instant. "I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"You can take anything you carry with you, right? So, carry me," Akane said.

"I can't do that! Your family would miss you!" he hissed.

"I'll leave a note. I'm just an extra here," she replied.

"Even if I believed they wouldn't miss you... what if we get separated? You'll get stranded in a strange world," RanmaA countered.

"Well... then we don't get separated!" Akane shouted.

"I can't promise you that," RanmaA said. "I'm sorry. I don't even know where we're going. The worlds could be dangerous too. You can still find happiness here. Don't force yourself into what I'm dealing with. It's this pain every time. I can't put you through that."

Akane opened her mouth to protest again, only for another flash to cut her off. The redhead grabbed his backpack, trying to hide the tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye," he said, before a final blinding flash took him away.

He could tell she'd shouted something as he'd vanished, but couldn't make it out.


End file.
